


Everlasting

by westerly01



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Fire fighter Kelley, hang in there with me, will tag as the story goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-05-21 19:09:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 49,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14921210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westerly01/pseuds/westerly01
Summary: Kelley is a woman who knows what she wants. She wants to run into burning buildings and she wants to get laid. It drives her friends crazy but she will never admit to them why it is the way it is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi All. I hope you will give this one a chance. Please let me know your thoughts along the way and thanks for checking in.

Kelley lay flat on her stomach, arms out to the side, head thumping slowly. She was keeping her eyes shut and pretending that she was asleep. The truth is, her body always woke up early naturally, adjusting easily to the required shift of the week. Though today, she really didn’t want to have to deal with what was in her room from last night. 

She had expected her to leave earlier but then they had both passed out. So now it was 5am and she was still waiting for the girl to leave her room. Kelley could hear the girl trying to be extra quiet and sneak around, the effort being pointless. Right now she seemed to be looking for her underwear. With a groan of defeat, the girl left the room with her shoes in hand, minus her underwear. Kelley heard her front door click shut....Finally.

Dramatically, she rolled over onto her back, rubbing the tired from her face. The sheets were pooled around her waist and she was completely naked. She wasn’t fast enough to cover herself when her housemate pushed her bedroom door open, leaning on the frame.

Kelley slowly puled the sheet up to cover herself.

“No need to be modest O’Hara, I’ve seen it many…many times before.” Kelley just looked at her, rolling her eyes with a smirk. “But enough of that. Get your ass up..I thought she would never leave.”

“You and me both.” Kelley’s voice was scratchy, dry after the drink from last night…and all the other activities. “Give me 5 Mal..I’ll be ready.”

 

2 miles into their run, the questions started.

“So Kel, as much I enjoy seeing your conquests do the walk of shame most weekends, why haven’t you locked one of them down yet?” Kelley didn’t answer, just shrugged her shoulders.  
Kelley was running with her two friends, one of them being her housemate. The other, their neighbor and Kelley’s work colleague, Ashlyn. Mal tried again, “I mean, you have a lot of really hot women throwing themselves at you, surely one of them has to be sort of okay to give it ago with?”

Kelley frowned, trying to think of her response without being a total Ass.

“Mal…I don’t have time for anything right now. I want to focus on me..so rather than get into with someone who wants something more, I tell them straight up exactly what is. That way they don’t expect anything else from me.”

“Well, apart from that one girl.” Ashlyn threw in, “What was her name?…Elyse…she was crazy.”

“Yep..batshit in fact…and that is also the other reason, I don’t have time or the inkling for batshit crazy women.”

“Hmm, I don’t think you are being honest with us. I think you have some jaded reason that you won’t tell us.” Mal spoke through her easy breathing while running.

“I’ve known you 4 years Kel,” Ashlyn added, “You need to slow down.”

“Alright..can we drop it? Please? I don’t need to be psychoanalyzed on my morning run that I use to clear my head.” The two other woman just nodded and grunted in acknowledgment, Mal looking to Ash with a questioning look. Mal had lived with Kelley for two years now and would also go out to the bars with her as they were friends. Both Ashlyn and Mallory had seen their fair share of women all over Kelley, neither of them could ever work out what was going through her head.

“So Ash,” Kelley tried to change the subject, “Are you and Ali going to try and go back home for the holidays?” Ashlyn shook her head, biting her bottom lip a little, running with ease.

“Nah Ali is taking some double shifts to take advantage of the overtime and I spoke to the Chief, he wants me to prepare for the lieutenants exam.”

“Shit really..that’s awesome..I mean it sucks that it’s over the holidays but that’s really awesome. Wait..are you up for Noonan’s truck? He’s retiring soon right?”

“Yeah, they want me to go for the exam before he retires so they can promote in house rather than bring in an outsider.” Kelley tapped her knuckles on Ashlyn’s shoulder in encouragement. Ashlyn had worked damn hard to get to where she was in the firehouse, standing toe to toe with the bigger guys, but always holding her own, and even some of theirs.

Kelley was on firetruck 19, firefighter extraordinaire. She’d been in the same firehouse in Atlanta since she had been a probie. She loved her job, loved the intensity it bought every day. It also bought along a few bonuses, like women really digging the hero shit. 

“Mal what are you doing for the holidays? I assume you don’t get any time off either?” Mal shook her hand like so-so.

“I have the five days leading up to Christmas Eve off. I’m going to fly back to Colorado and catch up with my folks for an early Christmas, then I will be back around lunch time Christmas eve. I work on Christmas Day so I guess it will be a shit fight as per usual. People just can’t keep their shit together on Christmas Day for some reason.”

Kelley was from Georgia, so her parents weren’t too far away, she saw them when she could but Kelley always liked to stay nearby, incase the firehouse needed her.”

“So can we get back to the chick from this morning?” Mal tried again.

“No.” Kelley was quick to shut her down.

“Okay, what about the chick from last Friday night?”

“No.” Kelley looks over with squinting eyes, trying to shut Mal down without verbally telling her so.

“Okay…what about the chick from 4 weeks ago..on the Wednesday..she was pretty.”

“Fuck dude.” Kelley stopped in her tracks. The other two stopped and turned to see her angry. “Yes I like to fuck different women, all of them like I said, know exactly what they are getting themselves into when we hook up. I don’t need a fuck buddy getting feelings that I don’t want.” She was looking in between Mallory and Ashlyn while she spoke. “I don’t get it..Why are you so invested in my sex life?” 

“Because dude, I’m invested in your life and believe it or not, I actually give a shit about you. You are churning out those women like you are either trying to prove something or you actually give absolutely no fucks about yourself.”

Kelley started jogging away again, not making eye contact, Ashlyn hearing enough of the mumble.

“Maybe it’s both.”

 

 

Kelley walked into the fire house with her duffle bag over her shoulder. She was starting her week of night shifts which unlike others, she actually enjoyed. Not having a significant other or anyone else really apart from her friends in uniform, made it easier for her to get through those nights, offering to take on more than others to help out when needed. 

Ashlyn worked the same rotation as her so they would normally car pool, unless Ali specifically wanted to drop Ashlyn off. Ali was finishing her residency as a Doctor at Piedmont, so when ever she had a chance to spend time with her girlfriend, she would commit 100%. Those two were completely lost in each other and Kelley was happy that one of her best friends was happy and got the girl of her dreams. They were the perfect match, and each others biggest fans.

Today, Ashlyn was being dropped off by Ali. This would normally entail them standing out near their car for a good 20 minutes making out while Kelley kept the Chief distracted. Today they managed to cut it down to fifteen, potential lieutenancy only making the smallest of differences. 

 

“Hey Probie..What’s for dinner tonight?” Kelley enjoyed giving the new probe a hard time, she was young but showed the same determination that Kelley started out with.

“Fried rice and sticky wings.”

“Seriously dude. Wings…we have to leave in a hurry and I have shit all over my hands. C’mon man..I think we need to talk about our menu options for the week.” Jessie’s eyes dropped to the floor, biting the inside of her cheek. Kelley kicked herself, knowing that all Jessie tried to do was make the firehouse happy.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, I should never be complaining about having saucy hands.” Jessie snorted, still looking at the ground, but chuckling gently under breath. 

Two hours into the shift and it was still quiet. No cats in trees, no drunk guys stuck in trees because they thought they were superman just because they tied a table cloth around their neck like a cape.

“Truck 19, Rescue 24…” Everyone was up instantly, Kelley and Ashlyn making their way down the fire pole. They had been in the middle of a very intense game of Mario, all the checks on the trucks had been done.

“Probie, you good?” Kelley was watching Jessie struggle to get into her boots. Jessie nodded, continuing to pull them on in a hurry. Kelley ran over, picked up Jessies boots and pushed her towards the truck, forcing her into the door, climbing in behind her. Once seated and once Kelley managed to make herself upright from rushing into the truck, she grabbed hold of Jessie's chin, locking eyes with her. “Jessie, what’s going on?”

“Nothing..I’m good.”

“Oh really? You couldn’t even get your foot in your boot. Now tell me, are you good?” Jessie nodded her head quickly.

“Yes, I’m good. I promise.” Kelley kept their eyes locked until she was convinced.

“Hurry up and get your boots on Probie.” Kelley shoved the boots against Jessie's chest.

“Are you two finished making babies back there?” Their lieutenant was looking at them closely. 

“Yeah Lu..all good back here.” Kelley kept watching Jessie for a moment longer before making eye contact with her lieutenant. He raised his eyebrows and then turned back around to look out the front of the truck.

The scene in front of them was chaos. Five cars had collided on the highway, which meant they were all going at a decent speed. One of them was smoking and one was already on fire. 

“Probie, get the hose out, Kel, check the cars for fuel leaks.”

“On it Dom.” Kelley ran over to each of the cars, leaning down where she needed to check for any fuel. “Fuck.”

“Which ones Kel?” Ashlyn was standing by Kelley, cutting machine in hand. 

“The blue and the red are leaking, both have at least 2 trapped.” Ashlyn nodded taking it in. 

“Dom, we have the blue and the silver over here. Can you two deal with the red?”

“Yup, Jessie put the hose on the black one there, keep an eye on this one though. Kelley, help me with these 2. Jeff,” Dom looked to the muscle house who was jogging up to them. “Help us here mate.”

They had to work quickly and carefully, not to cause any sparking. They kept the rescue tools away from any of the cars with leaks. The female driver in the vehicle started screaming. Dom tried to calm her down with his calm British voice, but that did nothing to shush her.

“Please stop screaming.” Kelley asked. The lady just looked at Kelley like she was an alien. “Yeah I think this one is in shock Dom.” Dom managed to move the male driver out of the car, no part of his body trapped. Kelley however, was not having such luck with the female passenger. She wasn’t stuck, just holding on for dear life. “Okay lady..I need you to let go, there is fuel leaking and we really need to get you out of here.” The passenger just kept shaking her head, refusing to move anywhere. 

“Kelley, get your ass moving, there isn’t time.” Kelley moved upright looking at Dom like he just made the most obvious statement ever made. Passing him a glare she knows she will chewed out for later, Kelley leant back and looked at the lady knowing what she needed to do. 

“Alright…sorry about this.” Kelley moved into the car so she was half covering the passenger, so to put more weight behind her movement. Kelley managed to drag her out, bit by bit, but all Kelley could focus on was that strong smell of fuel. With one last tug, she pulled the lady out and ripped her grip off the window frame. The passenger then somehow found the speed of Usain Bolt and began running away to the ambulance where her boyfriend was being checked out. 

Kelley spun herself around and pushed up away from the car, starting her run with as much power as she could considering how heavy her uniform is. She’d managed to make it 3 meters when the force of the explosion threw her into in to the air and then onto the ground with a thud. It felt like all the air had been pulled out of her body and there was a jarring pain in her side. She could feel the spray of the water falling against her jacket, her body being dragged further away from the heat. She tried to keep her eyelids open, but they kept drooping shut, slowly blocking out the boots of the person dragging her away. 

Kelley wasn’t completely aware of when she got to the hospital, but she remembers seeing Ali’s worried frown when her eyelids were pulled up and the flashlight shone directly in to her eyes. 

“Arrh, stop it Ali.” Kelley tried her best to swat away Ali’s hands from her face. Ali shook her head knowing exactly what Kelley was like. She was a horrible patient purely for the fact she hated taking up a bed and sitting still.

“Oh good, you’re awake. Now stop moving like that. We're trying to make sure nothing is fractured.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m the Doctor..you are the fire fighter. If you need to come and put a fire out in my house I won’t question you on your tactics. Now..stop questioning me.” Ali was staring Kelley down with her cut the shit glare. Ali wouldn’t be like this with anyone else except Kelley. They’d known each other for too many years.

“If I have to come and put out a fire at your house, I’m gonna be asking what the fuck Ashlyn is doing.” Kelley grumbled back.

“Cut the sass. Please let me do my job Kel.” Kelley nodded and stopped being a smart ass. Her head was hurting like she had been drinking all night.

“Does that hurt?” Kelley winced when Ali was feeling against the ribs on her right side.

“Yeah, it’s not as painful as when I fractured them that time, but it sure feels pretty sore.”

“Okay, well we will get a scan of them to be certain but I’m pretty sure they are just bruised. So far you have a mild concussion thanks to your helmet staying on, some scrapes on your hands from the fall and the bruised ribs. Pretty good I’d say considering.” Kelley nodded in understanding how it could have been a lot worse.

“Is everyone else ok?”

“Yeah everyone from the cars got out ok and none of the crew were injured from the blast. There are a few broken bones amongst the car crash victims and 1 punctured lung but all in all I think that’s a win for the night.” Kelley nodded, quietly looking to the roof again. “Hey Kel?” Ali waited until she had the brunettes attention. She put a hand on Kelley’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You did good. From what I hear it could have been a really different ending.”

Kelley looked at Ali, frustration in her eyes. “She just wouldn’t let go of the car Al. I could have gotten her out sooner but she was just so…”

“But you got her out. She’s fine…and you… well, nothing out of the ordinary for the day in the life of Kelley O’Hara.” 

 

“Alright O’Hara, you’re good to go. Your head is going to hurt a little so I think it’s best if you take it easy for a few days.” Kelley rolled her eyes, she was sitting upright up against the bed, ready to get out of the hospital. “Kelley, your ribs are bruised, I know Dom is going to test you out before you’re allowed back in the truck again anyway so don’t roll those eyes at me.”

“Are you giving Ali a hard time?” Ashlyn walked in the door, holding a coffee for both Kelley and Ali.

“Oh my god you are a life saver.” Ali held the coffee like it was a fragile treasure. Ashlyn had gotten coffee from a place that wasn’t the hospital, that had definitely gotten her in the good books with Ali.

“So is she?”

“Hmm?” Ali looked back wondering what Ashlyn was going on about.

“Is Kelley giving you a hard time?”

“Of course she is, if Kelley didn’t, I would be keeping her in here for observation.”

“Seriously..you both make it sound like I’m a complete pain in the ass.” Ali looked at her, one eyebrow up, considering saying something but feeling like it could be a trap.

“Take her home babe. Make sure she has some ibuprofen around too okay.” Ashlyn leant in and gave Ali a kiss before Ali walked out the door.

“”C’mon dude, let’s go.”

 

Four days it took for Kelley to be cleared to return to the truck. Four painfully long days. She was allowed to go to the firehouse, but she couldn't help answer the calls.

It did give her time to work with Jessie the Probie though. Kelley knew that if Jessie continued to act like she did the other night while she was getting ready for their call out, she wouldn't last...or she wouldn't make it through a call due to doing something stupid. Kelley knew that Jessie had what it took to be a great fire fighter so to her she was worth the time.

In between calls, Kelley had taken Jessie out to the yard to kick the ball around. It would normally be the place to find Kelley when she needed to think, she would kick the ball against the wall if no one wanted to kick with her.

"You want to tell me what had you so distracted the other night?"

"W-What do you mean?" Jessie kept her eyes down, watching the ball roll and not making eye contact with Kelley.

"I mean, you couldn't get your boots on by yourself the other night without falling over. If you keep that up, you will be pulled form the truck faster than I can pick up a chick at Mardi Gras." Jessie went to tap the ball but broke out laughing, appreciating that Kelley can keep her laughing and not make her feel like a child, like some of the others do.

"Honestly, I don't know what's been happening. I've always felt so confident in what I do. I love to learn from you, even though I'm the Probie..you still treat me like an adult. I've just been second guessing everything I do lately." Kelley stopped, her toe on top of the ball watching and listening to Jessie talk. "And I know I can't second guess myself because I won't make it if I do."

Kelley nodded in acknowledgment. "Has someone said something specifically to make you feel this way?" Kelley noticed how Jessie quickly averted her eyes, but just shrugged a little in response.

"No, I just....I just need to clear my head."

"Damn right you do." Kelley walked up and squeezed Jessie's shoulder gently. "If you can't shake this they will pull you from the truck. I will help you as much as I can but, I won't stand by and let you walk into a burning building the moment I think you can't handle it anymore." Jessie nodded in agreement.

"I know. Thanks Kel." Kelley stepped back and started dribbling the ball around Jessie.

"Well, now that the chat is out of the way...I need to know who that woman was that dropped off your bag the other night." Jessie just chuckled rolling her eyes.

"Oh god no."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, fair warning..the word Fuck is said a fair bit in this chapter. Also, there is a few not nice words about gay woman so if you have any issues with that, skip down a bit.
> 
> Cheers for the Kudos, hope you keep reading. xx

"Oh you think that fucking leso is going to help you?" Kelley stopped in the door way to the locker rooms to listen to what was going on. She knew the voice of the guy talking but she didn't know who he was talking to. There was a bang like something hit the locker doors. "Cat got your tongue..or is it just too stuck in that pussy you were fucking on the weekend?"

 

Kelley was a little confused by this stage, she wanted to walk in but also wanted to hear what was really going on.

 

"I told you to stay away from them but you just couldn't help yourself could you? You had to go in there and turn her into a freak just like you." Another bang into the locker. "Just because you've made it into the truck doesn't mean you've earned the badge. Next time you're on the job you better watch your back because you might just get stuck in a room when the roof comes down." Kelley had had enough and wanted to know what was going on. She walked into the lockers quietly but quickly and found Doug from Rescue with his forearm pressing against Jessie's throat and had her pressed up against the lockers. She was struggling to breath and as he hadn't heard Kelley come in he didn't stop. Kelley ran over quietly and kicked in the back of his knee cap causing him to collapse onto the ground.

 

"What the fuck is going on?" Doug was just looking up startled, like he was a deer stuck in headlights. Jessie had slid down the lockers and was rubbing her throat, gasping for air. "I said," Kelley kicked his leg causing him to pull himself back against the lockers, "What the fuck is going on?" Did I really just hear what I think I did? Because I swear I just heard you threaten a fellow firefighters life."

 

"She's not a fucking firefighter yet. She is just a Probie."

 

"No, she is on our team."

 

"No, she's on your fucking team you stupid dyke." Kelley couldn't believe what she was hearing. They actually had someone on their team who was prepared to threaten someone else's life, when they were supposed to be saving them.

 

"Are you fucking kidding me? Is it because she likes women or is it because she is a woman? I'm pretty sure both of these reasons aren't actually acceptable anymore. Not that they were even acceptable back then." Doug pulled himself back up off the ground trying to show dominance over Kelley who just laughed in his face. "You're fucked Doug. I can't believe you did that." Kelley went to check and see if Jessie was okay but Doug pushed her in the back forcing her to crash into the lockers. Kelley turned around just in time as he was about to sucker punch her in the back of the head, she ducked and stood in front of Jessie to protect her causing him also to punch one of the locker doors making a dent.

 

"What are you trying to prove Doug?"

 

"I don't need to prove anything. You both better watch your backs out there." Kelley pushedforward and shoved Doug back. He was pretty strong and about two foot taller but somehow she managed to make an impact." That's when Kelley lost it. She began pushing him back, shoving him in the chest.

 

"You fucking bitch, don't you dare touch me." Kelley figured the best thing for them to do was create noise and hope for the best.

 

"What, now that you have 2 bitches in a room who aren't scared of you, you don't know what to do?" Doug starting pushing back again, pushing Kelley hard, hard enough to bang into the locker, cutting the top of her right eyebrow. Doug grabbed hold of Kelley and started squeezing her throat. He wasn't watching what Jessie was doing, focused solely on Kelley and causing her pain.

 

"You don't deserve to be in this firehouse. You are a disgrace to this uniform you bitch and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you and that other fucking disgrace don't make it out of the next fire."

 

While Doug was so focused on trying to hurt Kelly, Jessie managed to run out of the locker rooms.

 

Coming through the back roller door was Ashlyn and muscly Jeff. They had just been outside playing basket ball, completely unaware of the situation in the women's lockers.

 

"Help..Ash Jeff..Please.." Jessie had only left the lockers by about 2 meters as she didn't want to go to far from Kelley but managed to get the others attention quickly, her arms flailing in the air. As they ran through the door, they found Kelley with her feet hanging in the air, Doug holding onto her throat. She was grabbing and scratching at his hand and wrist, trying to loosen his grip. When Ashlyn saw what was happening she ran over and shoulder charged Doug, causing him to drop Kelley and fall to the ground himself.

 

At that point Ashlyn lost it a little bit and sat on him, starting to punch into his body. "You piece of shit. What the fuck are you doing?" Doug was on her team and she couldn't believe someone she trusted with her life would do this to anyone.

 

Jeff pulled Ashlyn off Doug's body, Doug himself attempting to stand again, a little wobbly from being jumped. Jessie had run over to Kelley who was gasping for air, similar to how Jessie was earlier only harder as she had been without air longer.

 

"It's not what it looks like." Doug was trying to make an excuse for what he was doing. "Honestly, we were just mucking around, Kelley had shown me this new move she learned."

 

"Do you really think we are stupid enough to believe that Doug." Ashlyn spat back. Doug looked at Jeff almost begging him to take his side in solidarity with the only other guy in the room.

 

"What..are you really going to believe what ever that bitch has to say?" He looked towards Ashlyn, waving his hands around. "These fucking dykes are everywhere and I'm so sick of them sitting in our trucks. And Chicks..fucking chicks taking our spots in the trucks. They don't belong here."

 

Jeff stood there, a look of complete disbelief on his face. "You idiot, you have just flushed what ever career you would have had down the toilet. And it's not because of these women, " Jeff pointed to the 3 women in the room with him. "It's because you are chauvinistic, homophobic asshole, who doesn't deserve to wear this crest." Jeff pointed to the crest on his chest. "Now get the fuck out the door, I'm taking you to the Chief.

 

"You traitor, I can't believe you have chosen pussy over me." Jeff at that point walked up to Doug and punched him. Square in the nose..broke it too.

 

"That woman over there," He pointed to Kelley,"Has dragged me out of a burning building. And that woman over there," He pointed to Ashlyn, "Is one of the most loyal and trustworthy people I know. So don't you dare open your mouth again if you plan on talking shit." Jeff shoved Doug out the door towards the Chiefs office.

 

Kelley had regulated her breathing and was just sitting there watching everything roll out in front of her. "How long?" She looked at Jessie, knowing she would know what she was talking about.

 

Jessie just looked away, ashamed for being so weak.

 

"Jessie, how long has he been talking to you like this?" Ashlyn was understanding what Kelley wanted to know. Jessie began to squirm, not sure how much she wanted to tell them.

 

"Jess, don't blame yourself for the way he acted, he is a homophobic ass wipe who deserves exactly what is coming to him." Jessie nodded, her eyebrows knitted together in thought.

 

"A few weeks, he first got me one night after the weekend. I had seen him while I was out with some of my friends. Apparently his friend was the brother of the girl in my group that night. A couple of my friends are together and when he saw them kiss.. I just saw his eye's change, so full of hate. Guess I was guilty by association. There is no way that he would even know that I like woman. Ever since then he has been talking rubbish and threatening me. This was the first time he got physical like this." 

 

"I can't believe a guy like that made it through all the psych exams to get in." They heard a tap on the door and Dom walked in after a few seconds, making sure everyone was decent. After all, it was the ladies lockers.

 

"Fleming, are you okay?" Jessie nodded her head quickly at Dom, who then looked over to Kelley with a deep concern on his face.Dom and Kelley were actually really good friends, they allrespected his rank but they all respected him as a person even more. He was a really down to earth guy who just loved his family and his friends.

 

"Kel?" Kelley looked up, matching his stare.

 

"Yeah Lu." Dom gave her a particular look so she spoke again. "Yeah Dom, I'm okay, I promise."

 

That seemed to satisfy him for the minute and he spoke again. "Chief has called the police in. You'll both need to make a statement as to what happened. Fleming, make sure you tell them everything. Clearly there is more to this, than him just having a shitty day."

 

"Sure thing Lu." Dom walked over and stood in front of Jessie, holding out his hand to pull her up.

 

"Jessie, you are a good firefighter, a good person and a strong woman. Don't you dare let a waste of space like that tell you otherwise." Jessie nodded at the words. "Now do you need to go home for the remainder of your shift?"

 

"No Dom. Please, I want to stay here. I'm good, I promise." Dom kept staring at her trying to work out just whether she really was. "Please I can't let him win this. I'm okay." Dom nodded his head slowly. 

 

"Okay, both of you go and take a moment in the kitchen and wait for the police to come for your statements. Chief intends on pressing charges. Go on," He looked between the 2 women.

 

Kelley dragged herself away, following Ashlyn and Jessie into the kitchen. It was a crisp night, dinner yet to be made.

 

"Fuck I haven't made dinner." Jessie started to rush in behind the bench. Ashlyn walked over and placed her hand on Jessie's shoulder, gently pushing her back over to the couches.

 

"Don't worry Probie, I'll take care of it for you." Jessie looked at Ashlyn and mumbled a sincere thank you.

 

 

Twenty minutes later, Ashlyn was just about to serve out her Chicken Caesar Salad when someone walked in the door, walking over to steal a piece of chicken out of the bowl. Ashlyn smacked away the hand, seemingly used to the gesture.

 

"Ouch, hey, doesn't your favorite neighbor hood officer get a some of this dinner."

 

"Get your dirty paws of my salad. Who knows where those things have been." Ashlyn gestured at the officers hands. "Plus, I'm sure you have already had your share of doughnuts for the day."

 

"Ouch, I'm offended." She held her hand over her heart looking at Ashlyn, then placed her hand on her stomach, "And you know these Abs aren't because of doughnuts." There was a chuckle from the side and then eyes that she didn't know.

 

"Oh crap, I'm sorry, I'm Officer Pugh..Mallory, I'm only like this with Ash because she's my neighbor, I promise."

 

"Oh your Kelley's housemate?" Jessie asked shyly but curiously.

 

"Yeah, I don't know how I've done it, but we have been together for years..I mean, lived together..as housemates..friends." Jessie thought her rambling was cute, Mallory blushed all the way up to the tip of her ears.

 

"Oh lord. Mal..pull it together." Kelley rolled her eyes dramatically. "Jessie is the one you need to take the statement from too."

Mal saw the marks on both Jessie's and Kelley's neck.

 

"Crap, what the fuck did he do to you both?" Mal reached out to touch Kelley's neck. The gentleness of the touch showed just how well they knew each other. It did make Jessie wonder if there was anything in the background between these 2.

 

Kelley and Jessie then spent the next hour talking to Mallory while she took as many notes as possible. Jessie explained what had happened over the last few weeks and was relieved she could now get back to doing what she loved...helping people but also not having to watch her back.

 

"All available units to Fourteen 17th street," As soon as the noise came through Mal started putting her notepad away. She'd enjoyed spending the last hour talking to Kelley and Jessie, albeit under shitty circumstances. She's heard a fair bit about Jessie from Kelley but Mal wasn't aware of the fact that Jessie was into girls too. Well..she thinks she is. Mal was also pretty happy with the fact that every now and then, her and Jessie would lock eyes and hold for a little longer than necessary.

 

"Truck 11, Truck 19, Rescue 24, Warehouse fire Fourteen 17th" Everyone stood up in a hurry and started to move down the poll towards the trucks. Rather than risk going down the pole with her gun belt on, Mallory ran down the stairs and out to her car, looking back at her best friend pulling on her boots and jacket and to the girl she just met. Seeing that everyone in the house just got called in spiked Mallory's level of concern. Luckily, Doug had been taken down to the station by another officer so she didn't have to deal with him being stuck in her car and whining.

 

Kelley looked at Jessie, who quickly got dressed and jumped into the truck. "Are you okay?" Kelley grabbed Jessie's forearm to get her attention.

 

"I'm good." Kelley kept staring, making sure the truth was actually coming out this time. "I promise Kelley. He isn't there to let me burn anymore. I promise, I'm with you guys 100%." Kelley nodded in understanding. It must have been nerve racking as hell every time they had received a call when Doug was involved. Kelley is sad she didn't discover it sooner, but thankful that she had the best timing in the world today.

 

Jessie watched Mallory's car up ahead, basically giving the 3 trucks a lit up delivery all the way. She had all the cars slow down through the traffic lights so it made it a lot easier to follow her and get through. Although Mallory could have driven a lot faster, she ensured to stay at a pace that was effective for the trucks.

 

Mallory would normally have a partner with her, but Becky had a really bad cold and was out for the shift. Her Captain just decided to keep her on reports for the night rather than pull in someone else and blow the small overtime budget they had. It wasn't an especially busy time of the year so it was currently working in her favor.

 

From 3 blocks away they could see the glow. The flames were lighting up the sky and the normally quiet neighbor hood was drowned out by sirens coming from all directions. Mallory drove off to the side, parking where the other units were and reporting in to where she needed to. Kelley's trucks pulled up on the road to the side of the burning building.

 

Paramedics were already treating 3 people in dirty clothes for smoke inhalation. Looking around, Kelley watched the organized chaos become a blur as she tried to get her bearings. Jessie sticking to her side, just as she wanted.

 

Her Chief came jogging back over to report in to the troops. "Okay we have a usually abandoned building which has been torched with a pretty intense accelerant. Apparently it lit up real quick. Unfortunately we have reports of around 40 squatters still inside."

 

Kelley turned around, mouth hanging open looking at the condition of the building. Hoses were spraying on the walls already, preparing for ladders to start moving in against the open windows which the flames hadn't demolished yet. It was then they heard a scream and saw a mans body fall from one of the windows where the flames were licking through.

 

"Oh fuck."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading y'all!

"Oh Fuck."

 

The heat coming from the building was intense. Anybody inside would definitely be struggling.

 

"Okay Kel. You, Me and Jessie are gonna go in through the east exit and try to clear the rooms we can. Jeff, you and tank on the hose. Rescue is going in through the front, apparently it hasn't fully spread to that area yet." The other truck was being dispersed by their lieutenant, same as Rescue. Ashlyn ran past with her full kit on ready to go inside. As she jogged past, she held her fist up for Kelley to tap. "See you at home." Ashlyn said as she jogged away. Jessie was looking a lot more composed than she had been looking recently, clearly showing the impact that Doug had.

 

Her team started to move towards the entry way, they could hear screams coming from one of the windows that was open. Just as Kelley got to the entry to move through the door, she heard a blood curling scream come form the same window and then it suddenly stopped. None of this seems good, it was burning hot and fast. Walking through the door is just like jumping out of a plane for Kelley. The adrenaline from the uncertainty, that's what it was like for her. She would know too, having jumped once to see if she could stop this need to run herself into the ground. She had decided that walking into a building when it's burning, that is more of a thrill for her.

 

Her breathing apparatus always made her feel like she was in space. The sound that would come out of the mask, a hissing sound, a bit like Darth Vader. It made for good party tricks at school for the kids too.

 

They walked low, walking up to a closed door and feeling for heat. The first 3 rooms were locked so they had to bust them open. Unfortunately it just ate away at time, but at least they were empty when they checked them out. The fourth room was wide open, it had a really big dude passed out on the floor. Checking his pulse, it was weak but it was there. Dom checked his size and realized he would need to be the one to take him out. The guy had to be at least 6'4. Dom knew Kelley would give it a go without a question, but he went in and threw him over his shoulder.

 

Dom was back by the time Jessie and Kelley made it through another 3 rooms. They only had one left but they could see that it was full of smoke through one of the windows, like it was an business office. As soon as they broke through the lock, they could see the bodies of 4 people on the ground, 3 women and a man. Unfortunately, only 2 of them had pulses of any sort. Knowing they needed to make a move, Dom got himself into a crouch position. Kelley and Jessie pulled up 2 of the bodies, placing the smaller women over each of his shoulders. Once in position, he stood, got himself set and then headed for the exit. Kelley then helped one of the bodies onto Jessie's shoulder, then Jessie waited for Kelley before heading out the door.

 

Mal was standing watch by one of the barriers, making sure that no one would make it through and cause any further trouble.

 

She saw Dom run out of the building carrying 2 bodies, he was a beast. Her eyes then fell over to the 2 uniforms that followed him out soon after. She could see that each of them were carrying a body out, unsure if they were alive though. Without any time to rest, she watched them run back towards the door way again. As she watched, she saw one of them briefly pull off her mask to take deep breaths. Mal felt a weird feeling in her stomach, watching Jessie suck down air, knowingly ready to run back into he burning building. Just as she was about to pull her mask back down, Jessie looked over and caught Mallory watching her. She didn't really smile, not really the appropriate time, but Jessie acknowledged Mal with a gentle nod and then pulled her mask back down, covering her face.

 

As soon as they cleared out their zone, they were told to move upstairs in to the back of the building. Kelley could hear a lot more happening up there with the other units trying to clear awaymore of the people. Most of the people were conscious, they were just trapped because of the flames and debris from the roof. Kelley could see Ashlyn trying to clear someone from under a beam, but just at that moment, the roof collapsed in and Ashlyn couldn't be seen anymore, along with the person under the beam. Kelley bee lined for Ashlyns location, meeting 2 other rescuers there.

"What the fuck fell? Please tell me its just plaster and insulation? Ash?" Kelley was yelling as she started sifting through the debris that had fallen. "Ash, c'mon, answer me?" There was a surprising amount of plaster that had fallen, too much of the structure now becoming unstable. Kelley tried again, she had thoughts in her head of having to tell Ali that Ashlyn had been hurt. She yelled louder, not wanting to think about that scenario. "Ash?"

 

A part of plaster board moved a little, enough for them to see a black firefighter boot move in the dust. Continuing to pull away the debris, they found Ashlyn laying on her side, trying to wake up but dropping back unconscious again. "God damn it Ashlyn, I am not gong to tell your wife that you are unconscious so wake the fuck up." Ashlyns head rolled a little but there wasn't any other movement. Her helmet was still in place so she shouldn't have had any head injures, it would all just depend on what part of her body the heavy plaster board fell on.

 

With no time to mess around, one of the rescue guys threw her over his shoulder and made way to an exit. Kelley had to shake off that her best friend was being carried out of the building so she continued to help the remaining rescue guy with the beam. She felt a tap on her shoulder and another of the team came to sit in her spot, relieving her of that duty.

 

That's when another part of the roof collapsed, luckily without any one there this time. She could hear through her radio that the rooms were cleared of the squatters who had pulses. There were just too many there to try and remove considering the building was starting to fall apart around them. Kelley moved down the hall, watching Jessie walk out with another of the survivors. One of the guys from a different house came up and tapped her on her shoulder with his glove. He was making a follow me action with his hand, just as the instruction came through to evacuate from Dom.

 

"On it Lu, coming now."

 

Kelley nodded, acknowledging it was time to go. The guy in front moved to turn around but stopped with a surprised look on his face as he started falling through the ground. Kelley was standing on the same unstable ground and eventually her floor fell away too.

 

Dom was outside, doing his own little roll call as his people turned up. Jessie had just gotten out the door when a blast of dust blew out behind her.

 

Jessie spun around ready to run back in, she knew Kelley was supposed to be following right behind her. Jessie had seen Kelley walking towards her before she walked out with another survivor. In her helmet she could hear Dom scream at her to stop. Jessie turned around pissed off, ripping off her helmet and mask.

 

Mallory watched helplessly from the side as she saw Jessie rip of her helmet and look at her lieutenant like she wanted to murder him where he stood. Dom ran over to talk to her, along with Jeff and Tank, leaving the other trucks to use the hoses. Mal couldn't hear what they were saying but she could see them talking quickly to Jessie before they all ran back in the door. Mal felt like she was about to combust. Her neighbor had been carried out unconscious and put in an ambulance Her room mate had just been trapped in a collapsing building and the woman she had just met, who makes her feel like there are a plethora of butterflies in her stomach, also just ran into a building that has just partially collapsed.

 

Kelley woke up to a loud screaming noise. She mustn't have been out for long, the dust was still settling. Her eyes were a bit dizzy but hey...she was awake. She tried to move slowly, doing the checks over her body. She slowly wiggled her toes..they worked..she wiggled her fingers, she was thankful they worked....and her arms didn't hurt when she tried to push her self up. Finally getting her bearings, she saw someone in front of her, not too far away who was laying on the ground unable to move his leftleg. She got down and crawled to him realizing he was the person that the screams were coming from.

 

When she got next to him, she pulled both their masks and helmets off so she could talk to him properly. He looked so young and so scared. He looked a little pale and then she realized that he couldn't move his leg because there was a metal rod sticking through the calf and it was bleeding like a motherfucker.

 

"Fuck!" Kelley quickly pulled off her jacket and the slipped off her uniform polo shirt. Moving her arms to get her shirt off made her realize that she was starting to feel a little stiff but she would have to work on that later. She sat there in her sports bra, tearing her shirt in half to make it longer.

She stopped and looked at the guy, she realised she was starting to lose him a little.

 

"I don't know if I should be offended or not that you haven't commented on my abs yet?" She looked at the guy waiting for a sign of him hearing her.

 

The corner of his lip curled up to a small smirk, acknowledging that he was still with her.

 

"As much as they are blinding me, I know I have no chance with you, so I figured I'd save my energy." Kelley chuckled as she began tying the ripped shirt around the object in his leg, tying it off tight trying to stop the blood.

 

"Yeah, well a girl still has an ego, so it never hurts to practice." She took his wrist to feel his pulse. They are all trained as low level paramedics, they just don't administer drugs of any sort.

 

"I got the girl I'm going to marry, I don't need to practice on anyone else." He had a happy smile on his face which was impressive considering the circumstances.

 

"Oh yeah, what are you like 12?" He laughed again.

 

"I'm 22 actually."

 

"Jesus Christ, kids start early these days." Kelley stated back, casually checking over the other body parts while he was laying there, checking for broken bones.

 

"What?? You've never been in love?" Kelley stopped her movements for a second, her eyes staring at one spot on his jacket before shaking herself out of it.

 

"Well I don't know if you've heard anything about me...but I've been a little busy." She steered away from the original question.

 

"Oh, I've heard things." He chuckled again. "I've been warned to not let you around my fiancé."

 

Kelley sat back on her haunches and looked at the guy in front of her. "Whats your name?"

 

"Mitchell."

 

"Well Mitchell, that's one thing I would never do. I would never step on anyone else's happy." Kelley stood up to look around where they were, hearing a lot of commotion through the wall of plaster and metal. "So if you love her, hold on to her and never let anyone take her away."

 

Mitchell watched Kelley feel the wall in front of her, a lot of unreadable emotion on her face, but clearly years of practice of pushing it away.

 

He watched her stand there, hands on her hips, in her bra, firefighter pants and big boots. He could definitely see that attraction people have to her, she was fucking gorgeous. Her biceps were toned but not over the tops for her size and yes...she had abs for days.

 

"Are you checking me out?" Kelley chuckled while she was looking through a hole, able to see movement and shadows. Mitchell laughed, wincing at the pain he was feeling, the pain reeling through his body.

 

"No..I'm not. I do however think that we should have an Ab off when we get out of here." She spun around, smiling at the guy on the floor.

 

"Oh you think you can beat these?" She put her hand on her stomach, rubbing up and down, Mitchel moved his head side to so, like a may-be. "Well," She was interrupted by Dom yelling."O'Hara? Can you hear us?"

 

She spun back around to yell through the hole of plaster. "Dom, get us out of here, my buddy Mitch here is bleeding on my only clean shirt." If Dom could hear the laughter, he would have known things would be okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts. I'm hoping I got this out with the right feeling.

Kelley found out that Ashlyn had later woken up in the Ambulance on the way to the hospital, She had concussion from the plaster hitting her helmet pretty hard. She was otherwise okay apart from feeling a little bruised all over her body. Ali was sitting with Ashlyn at the hospital when Kelley got there, Ali just finishing her double shift. She looked tired but refused to leave Ashlyn's side until she got to take her home. Kelley's body felt stiff and sore from the fall. Luckily she didn't have a concussion, considering it would have been so close since the last one. Young Mitch was still in surgery when Kelley left the hospital. He would definitely be out of action for a while from having a metal rod through his leg. It would take a fair bit of rehab time on top to be cleared to run again and lift a load over the shoulder.

 

Kelley handled things the way she did best. Currently she was lying between beautiful crisp white sheets and her head was between the thighs of a gorgeous brunette. Fingers were tangled through Kelley's hair and she was enjoying the sounds she was hearing.

 

"Fuck Kelley......d-don't stop." Kelley had stopped in for coffee when her shift ended after seeing Ashlyn in the hospital. When she was waiting for her coffee, a gorgeous brunette...Carly... was standing there in her active wear, also waiting on her coffee. A side eye and a smirk later, Carly was pinned up against her bedroom wall with Kelley's hands down her pants making her cum for the first time.

 

This is the way Kelley let out her frustrations when she needed to. It wasn't the healthiest way, she would admit that to herself. But it certainly wasn't the most dangerous thing she could do.

 

"Shittttt. Oh god." Carly was then silent as he body tensed up, Kelley feeling like her head was about to pop from the thighs squeezing her head.Carly then grabbed Kelley's head and encouraged her to crawl back up her body, she was breathing hard.As soon as Kelley got back up to the level Carly could kiss her, Kelley found 2 fingers feeling how wet she was. "Oh god, you're so wet." Without saying another word Carly thrust those 2 fingers into Kelley hard.

 

"Argh." Kelley stayed hovering over the brunette welcoming the new intrusion. Carly set a hard fast pace that Kelley moved with. Kelley's knees placed on either side of Carly's hips, she begun thrusting hard, while she put her head down into the crook of Carly's neck. There was no sensual kissing right then and definitely no longing eye contact. Kelley's body hurt, but she really needed to get off right now and Carly was doing an extremely good job. The wall that Kelley had Carly pinned to earlier belonged to her sorority house and Kelley was convinced she was at least a Junior. Meh, it didn't really matter right then though.

 

Carly moved her thumb to the place that helped Kelley over the edge. Kelley came hard and collapsed on top of Carly.

 

"Fuck me." Kelley mumbled out. 

 

Carly chuckled, "I would love to but I have my morning class that I need to get ready for." Kelley rolled off onto the bed and looked over at the brunette.

 

"Honestly..I couldn't..I'm so tired right now. But I gotta say, that was the best coffee I've had in a really long time." Carly smirked as she got out of bed and pulled Kelley's clothes from the pile against the wall.

 

"I'd say anytime but I get a feeling this was a one off." Kelley looked at Carly nodding, pulling herself away from the mattress.

 

"Mmmmm, I'd normally make that pretty clear at the beginning but things escalated very quickly.....you okay with that?" Carly chuckled back.

 

"Don't worry abut it Kelley, I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm impressed you even asked my name actually."

 

"Well I'd look like a bit of a dick screaming out my own name."

 

 

 

 

Six days later the preliminary report came back from the building fire and it confirmed arson. Unfortunately, they lost 9 people that night. Most were due to smoke inhalation but 2 were found burnt so badly they couldn't be identified. The other confirmed death was the man that jumped out of the window. Call outs could be a simple as a kid with his finger stuck in a drain, but then there was always that one call out that would be a bad result, no matter how hard you tried. Kelley was on a day shift and then had 3 days off. She was counting down the hours, which was unusual for Kelley but her body was needing a rest, she felt tired and sore. Just as Kelley and Jessie had finished rolling up the main hose, the house alarm went off calling out all the trucks again.

 

They drove through a run down Warehouse district. A lot of the buildings were old and no one was interested in anything but the land. The employment downturn just didn't call for these areas to be needed.

 

When they pulled up to the abandoned warehouse, they could see the fire had taken a good hold of part of the building.Doing their normal thing, Kelley followed Dom and Jessie in, along with the rescue team, needing to make sure there wasn't anyone in the building and to see if they could attack the fire from within. 

 

Walking through the building felt like de ja vu for Kelley. Something seemed off, it was burning very hot and fast again. Most of the warehouse was open plan but with old machinery in it. There was a portion closed off with big blue tarps, which they approached carefully. The smell coming from the closed off area was distinct. As soon as they pulled the tarp corner back, it exposed 2 badly burned bodies.

 

"Dom, this doesn't feel right." Dom looked at Kelley, nodded and then put out the call.

 

"Dwyer to team 4." He waited for the response.

 

"Come in Dom."

 

"I think it's time we get out of here. We found 2 bodies, burnt out but no fire around them."

 

"Okay Dom, we will see you outside." Immediately after the response, there was an explosion from the back of the warehouse. Everyone's radio's were suddenly alive with yelling.

 

"Out, out, out. Team 4, are you okay?" Dom followed up behind Kelley and Jessie.Kelley led the way out, keeping an eye out for any falling debris.

 

"Team 4 good, leaving South exit now." All teams turned to just extinguishing the flames, leaving the search as it was too dangerous.

 

"Dom..I'm telling you. There is something going on. There were no flames near those drums. Something sparked them." Jessie was nodding beside Kelley and she added.

 

"Why would those 2 bodies be in that condition too? It doesn't make sense." Another explosion occurred, everyone crouching beside the trucks, that explosion was the biggest yet. The entire side of the warehouse collapsed in on itself.

 

"Well, I think whatever evidence was in there before.." Dom pointed to the building, "It's all gone now." The members of Kelley's truck stood there, hands on their hip, watching the fire take hold of the building.

 

 

 

Later that afternoon, Kelley was rifling through her duffle bag. She was angry. There was an arsonist out there.What was worse though, this building fire developed in to deliberate explosions, well timed for maximum effect. This mean that every call out now to a warehouse was even more dangerous than usual.

 

"Alright...this is shit....I need to go out." Dom looked over at Kelley, trying to work out that look in her eye.

 

"What sort of 'out' were you thinking Kel?"

 

"Call Sid, I'll get Mal, Ash and Ali. Let's go to Harry's." Dom smiled, it had been a long time since they had been to Harry's. Kelley yelled out to Jessie who had been changing in the lockers.

 

"PROBIE." Jessie slowly walked out from the lockers, looking at Kelley confused.

 

"What's up Kel?"

 

"I wanna go out. You wanna come?" Jessie kept looking confused.

 

"You're asking if I want to go out.... with you?"

 

"Yes Pr-Jessie...do you want to come out tonight? I need a big one. These last few weeks have been seriously fucked up."

 

"Sure..thanks. Umm, where should I meet you?" Kelley laughed.

 

"Don't look so scared...drop by mine at 8, we are gonna pregame. Plus, I'm pretty sure Mal will be a little happy to see you." Kelley was looking at Jessie with a mischievous look in her eye. Jessie stood there blushing, nervous to spend the night with her crew...and Kelley's housemate.

 

 

 

At 8pm on the dot, Mallory opened the door to uncertain looking Jessie.

 

"Hey, you're here.I was worried that you would back out. C'mon in, Ali and Ash have just gotten here too so we are about to start some shots. Are you up for it?" Mal was trying her best to subtly check out Jessie, who was wearing tight ripped black jeans, a white v neck t-shirt and a black leather jacket. Her hair was a little wavy, hanging free over her shoulders.

 

"Yeah sure, anything but rum." Mal looked at her confused.

 

"Who on earth shoots with rum?" She smirked back at Jessie, trying to make her feel comfortable.

 

"It happened once. I try to forget the things I _can_ remember from that night." Jessie was smiling, walking in the apartment and taking in her surroundings.

 

"Well, good thing we have either Tequila or Black Sambuca. Which one would you prefer?" Jessie stood there considering her options, also taking in the chance to subtly check out Mallory as she was led further into the apartment. Mallory was in a tight fitting red dress that stopped mid thigh. She didn't have her shoes on yet but Jessie could only imagine how they would make Mal's legs look. Mallory turned around just as Jessie was looking up from her ass. Mallory stood there with one eye brow raised and a smirk on her lips waiting for an answer. Jessie took in a deep breath knowing she was busted and she calmly let out the deep breath before answering.

 

"Either is fine, I'll have what your having." Jessie challenged back to Mallory. Mal nibbled on her bottom lip and nodded.

 

"Well come this way pretty lady. Time to get you liquored up." Jessie found the other 3 women sitting out on a balcony. They weren't dressed to go out yet, Mal obviously making the effort before Jessie turned up.

 

"Oh hey Probie, you came." Kelley got up form her seat and went over to give Jessie a hug. Kelley whispered in Jessie's ear, "Don't worry, that's the only probie reference for the night." Kelley looked sincerely into Jessie's eyes, making Jessie feel a little more comfortable, like this wasn't a prank that she was invited out for the night. "We're about to have some shots. Are you up for it?"

 

"Yeah actually, Mal's getting me what she's having." Kelley smirked.

 

"Well, I will let her look after you then." Kelley looked over Jessie's shoulder, watching Mallory walk up from behind. Mallory shaking her head because she knew just how mischievous Kelley could be. 

 

3 shots of Sambuca and 2 beers later, Jessie was feeling quite relaxed. It was all within 2 hours so she was pretty buzzed. Throughout those 2 hours, Mallory had slowly made her way closer to where Jessie was. Close enough in fact that after the 3rd shot and as Mallory delivered Jessie's beer, Jessie grabbed Mal's hand after she took the beer from it and pulled Mal down to sit on her lap.

 

Jessie continued to sip her beer while she breathed in the perfume that Mal was wearing. It was quickly becoming her favorite perfume ever made. Mal relaxed back and began to lean against Jessie's chest so as Jessie spoke, she was only needing to whisper if she was talking to Mallory.

 

"You look beautiful tonight." Jessie spoke quietly to Mal so no one else would hear her. Mal turned her head and leaned in a little towards jessie.

 

"Thank you, you look quite the stud yourself." Jessie's hand was sitting gently on Mal's hip, not to be intrusive but it could be taken as she was just holding Mal steady if questioned. Mal casually moved her hand to pick up Jessie's, threaded their fingers together and rested their hands over her stomach. 

 

Dom and Sid walked in, finishing off the arrivals. All that needed to happen now was for Kelley to get dressed. Ash and Ali had gotten dressed in between drinks. As Kelley walked past Jessie and Mallory, she flicked Jessie on the ear. Jessie couldn't grab her ear because her hand was in Mallory's and she was quite happy with her hand being there. The movement jostled Mallory so Jessie held her in tighter and kissed the bare skin on her shoulder. Mal squeezed Jessie's hand so she knew she felt it.

 

Kelley was finishing getting dressed when she started thinking about what she could see between Mal and Jessie. Seeing her housemate get cozy with her Probie made her happy. Kelley may not have wanted anything serious with someone but she knew Mal was different. If she had showed interest in Jessie, that meant she was interested in something more. Jessie didn't seem like the person to screw anyone over but she had still earned herself a best friend talk if they made it more than just tonight.

 

A few minutes later, Kelley was yelling that she was ready and their lift was only 5 minutes away. The other couples downed their drinks and started to move inside ready to head out the front door. When the last person walked inside, Mal shuffled around slightly so she was facing Jessie a little more. When she looked Jessie in the eyes, she felt a hand on the back of her head pulling her in for a kiss.Their first touch was gentle, their lips discovering where the others fit.Then Jessie felt Mal's tongue slide along her bottom lip so she happily opened her lips slightly. It wasn't aggressive or forceful, they were both just happy to slowly explore each other. That was until Kelley walked out the door.

 

"A-huh!" Kelley said, like she was making a discovery. Mal didn't turn around, she just rested her forehead on Jessie's, closing her eyes, hoping Kelley would not make a big deal and freak Jessie out. Kelley surprised Mal instead, "Our ride is here ladies." And with that she turned back around and left them. Mal pecked Jessie on the lips quickly again before Jessie spoke.

 

"You need to get your shoes." Mal nodded her head gently against Jessie's forehead. She stood up, keeping hold of Jessie's hand and pulled her up, leading her back inside without letting go.

 

 

 

When they walked into the bar, they found it full of bodies. There was a live band playing and people were dancing in or on every space possible.

 

"Have you been here before?" Kelley was standing beside Jessie who was still holding Mal's hand.

 

"No, I didn't even know about this place." Kelley looked at her shocked.

 

"What rock have you been living under?" Jessie laughed.

 

"Yeah... clearly a big one. Is this place always like this?" Kelley nodded.

 

"Yeah Harry know's how to make this place rock. C'mon, they saved us a booth." Jessie looked over at Mal confused.

 

"How on earth does she get a booth saved in a place like this?" Mal leaned over so her lips were moving against Jessie's ear.

 

"We've known the owner for years. C'mon let's sit. They will come and take our orders soon." Even that statement made Jessie raise her eyebrows.

 

 

 

"HARRY!!" They all yelled when a brunette walked over to the booth.

 

"Hey guys, I haven't seen you in a while. What brings you by?" The brunette leaned against the table, her smile making the place glow.

 

Kelley spoke back. "It's been a shit few weeks and it's just been way too long really."

 

"Should I let Danny know that you are here?" The others started cheering and jostling Kelley, Jessie completely confused as to what was going on.

 

"Yeah, why not, like I said, shit week and I need to let it out." Jessie leaned over to Mallory again.

 

"What's going on?"

 

Jessie felt a hand move over her thigh, Mal smirking back. "You'll see." Jessie leaned over again.

 

"Dammit Mal, you are making it really fucking hard to sit here and not do anything." Mallory threw her head back laughing.

 

"It's okay, you can touch me, I'll let you." Jessie sat there with her eyes wide and eyebrows up.

 

"Not in the way I want to touch you right now." Jessie started shaking her head, "Not appropriate for public." Mallory leant over and kissed Jessie's lips, interrupted by a question.

 

"Who is your friend Mallory?" The brunette was looking at Jessie and Mallory waiting.

 

"Tobin, this is Jessie, she works with Kelley in her truck." Mal looked at Jessie, "This is Tobin...or Harry. Tobin owns this fine establishment with her wife Christen and she is just as stunning as this one." Mal pointed her thumb over to Tobin.

 

"Naww, keep talking like that and I'll either have to keep you away from Chris, or give you free drinks."

 

Kelley piped up from the other side of the table in response to that. "Drinks, definitely free drinks." Tobin moved off the table shaking her head, turning around as she walked away.

 

"Bianca will be over soon to take your orders. Don't piss her off this time." The group all made sounds like they had no idea what Tobin was talking about.

 

After there first round of drinks were almost finished, a tray of shots were bought over by Bianca.

 

"On the house from Tobin." The whole table cheered over raising there shot glasses to the bar. The band had just finished their cover of a Hoobastank song when the singer started talking and looking out into the crowd.

 

"O'Hara...I hear you're in the house?" He had his hand up protecting his eyes, trying to see against the lights. The crowd started cheering, someone even started a chant of Kelley's name.

 

"Kel-ley..Kel-ley...Kel-ley..."

 

Kelley skulled the rest of her drink and her friends at the table started cheering back, Dom standing up on the seat.

 

"Here she is Danny." Dom pointed over to where Kelley was walking through the crowd. Kelley walked up to the stage and pulled herself up. She stood there talking to Danny over the noise, confidently standing there in her tight blue jeans, maroon v-neck and black leather jacket. Danny passed her a guitar. She placed the strap over her neck and plugged the amp chord, then ran the guitar pick over the strings a few times. Kelley walked up to the microphone, not an ounce of shyness showing.

 

"Hey guys, it's been a while." The crowd cheered at Kelley and she smiled back at them. "So I'm gonna apologize in advance for the song choice but when I saw Danny the other week he had this on his play list and when we jammed to it, it actually sounded fucking good. So, here it is." Kelley looked back at the band ready to make the first sounds, her hands moving comfortably over the strings to get in place.

(Writers Note - I highly recommend you listen to this song and picture Kelley singing it at the same time - Nickelback - Animals.)

 

 

Kelley stood back at the microphone, her hand moving against the guitar, playing along perfectly with the drums, the crowd cheering. She then moved the guitar around her hip and sang with a perfect rock voice she never showed at any other time.

 

 

I, I'm driving black on black

_Just got my license back_

_I got this feeling in my veins this train is coming off the track_

_I'll ask polite if the devil needs a ride_

_Because the angel on my right ain't hanging out with me tonight_

 

She swung the guitar back around ready to play again, a sparkle in her eyes portraying her thoughts with the words she sung.

 

_I'm driving past your house while you were sneaking out_

_I got the car door opened up so you can jump in on the run_

_Your mom don't know that you were missing_

_She'd be pissed if she could see the parts of you_

_That I've been kissing_

_Screamin'_

 

_No, we're never gonna quit_

_Ain't nothing wrong with it_

_Just acting like we're animals_

_No, no matter where we go_

_'Cause everybody knows_

_We're just a couple of animals_

_So come on baby, get in_

_Get in, just get in_

_Check out the trouble we're in_

 

Kelley smiled at the crowd like she owned it. She loved being up on stage like this, but keeping it a every now and then thing like this made it even more special for her, another way to release the tension. She swung the guitar back over on her hip again and gripped the microphone stand.

 

_You're beside me on the seat_

_Got your hand between my knees_

_And you control how fast we go by just how hard you wanna squeeze_

_It's hard to steer when you're breathing in my ear_

_But I got both hands on the wheel while you got both hands on my gears_

 

She grabbed the guitar again.

 

 

_By now, no doubt that we were heading south_

_I guess nobody ever taught her not to speak with a full mouth_

_'Cause this was it, like flicking on a switch_

_It felt so good I almost drove into the ditch_

_I'm screamin'_

_No, we're never gonna quit_

_Ain't nothing wrong with it_

_Just acting like we're animals_

_No, no matter where we go_

_'Cause everybody knows_

_We're just a couple of animals_

_So come on baby, get in_

_Get in, just get in_

_Look at the trouble we're in_

 

Kelley stilled the stings, one hand holding the microphone stand.

 

_We were parked out by the tracks_

_We're sitting in the back_

_And we just started getting busy_

_When she whispered what was that_

_The wind, I think 'cause no one else knows where we are_

_And that was when she started screamin'_

_That's my dad outside the car_

_Oh please, the keys, they're not in the ignition_

_Must have wound up on the floor while_

_We were switching our positions_

_I guess they knew that she was missing_

_As I tried to tell her dad it was her mouth that I was kissing_

_Screamin'_

 

Kelley was looking out at the crowd, her table of friends jumping all over the chair and dancing where she could see them. She was looking around, seeing a couple of regulars that she sees when ever she plays and also a few women locked in on her like they were waiting to pounce. She kept looking around while she sang.

 

 

_No, we're never gonna quit_

_Ain't nothing wrong with it_

_Just acting like we're animals_

_No, no matter where we go_

_'Cause everybody knows_

_We're just a couple of animals_

_So come on baby, get in_

 

Scanning the crowd, she saw some eyes that looked familiar to her, but unexpected. She lookedback to find them again, this time trying to see better. Those eyes were locked on her and Kelley suddenly found the she couldn't look away from those eyes either. Kelley wanted to finish the rest of the song and run towards those eyes.

 

_We're just a couple of animals_

_Get in, just get in_

_Ain't nothing wrong with it_

_Check out the trouble we're in_

_We're just a couple of animals_

_Get in, just get in_

 

As soon as Kelley finished that last chord, she quickly pulled off the guitar strap and handed the instrument over to Danny, slapping him on the shoulder in thanks. When she turned back around, she saw the person she wanted to talk to making her way through the crowd, over to the bathrooms. Kelley jumped off the stage and tried to make it through the crowd.People were slapping her on the back as she went and a few women called out her name trying to get her attention. Kelley pushed her way through the door and saw the woman standing there, leaning into the sink taking some deep breaths. As soon as the woman heard the door open, she looked over, standing straight up quickly to face Kelley.

 

Kelley strode over to the woman and grabbed her hands linking their fingers together and pulled her in close so their foreheads could rest against each other, noses touching.

 

They were both silent for a minute, just taking in the situation. Kelley took a deep breath, breathing in the woman in front of her. Kelley's heart was almost beating out of her chest.

 

"Alex."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you picture Kelley singing that too?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all. I appreciate the kind words. I hope you like the update.

"Alex"

 

The 2 women continued to stand there, fingers entwined, foreheads touching until Kelley pulled Alex into a hug, burying her nose into the crook of her neck, arms tight around her shoulders.

 

"I can't believe you're actually standing in front of me." Kelley mumbled into her neck.

 

"I moved back here 2 months ago. Do you live here?" Alex's husky voice was just loud enough for Kelley to hear.

 

"Yeah I do...."Kelley pulled herself back so she could look Alex in the eyes. "Why didn't you come and find me?"

 

"I didn't know.." Alex looked away to the ground, "I didn't know if you would want to see me." Kelley scoffed in disbelief.

 

"Are you kidding me. I have been waiting everyday for you." Alex smiled softly.

 

"I did try once..about a year later...but the house had been sold..I didn't know how after that."

 

Kelley ran her fingers down Alex's arms and grabbed hold of her fingers. Kelley's eyebrows moved to a frown. Lifting up Alex's left hand. "What's this?"

 

Alex's eyes moved down to her fingers and she closed her eyes, trying to to hide the sadness.

 

"I'm getting married Kel." Right at that moment there was noise coming through the bathroom doors.

 

"Kel?"

 

"Alex"Mallory and another woman walked through the door at them same time. Alex jumped back surprised by the noise. Kelley was just standing there in shock looking at Alex, not able to find any words with the bomb that Alex just dropped.

 

"Alex are you alright?"

 

"Yeah Allie. I'm good." The 2 woman that walked in were looking between Kelley and Alex trying to read the situation.

 

"Kel?" Mallory was looking at Kelley concerned. Kelley still hadn't responded, looking like she was puppy that had just been kicked.

 

"Cool well it's time to head. We've got that early staff meeting."

 

"Yeah, you're right." Alex looked at Kelley, stepping forward tentatively and then after seeing the pain in Kelley's eyes, she stepped back.

 

"I better go." Alex whispered softly to Kelley.Alex wiped a tear away from her own cheek, stepping backwards away from Kelley. Kelley looked like she came to her senses, though she still had a heavy frown on her face.

 

"No wait...Al... I can't lose you again." Alex kept moving towards the door, Mallory stepping out of her way. Alex stopped moving. Her friend Allie reaching out and tugging on her shirt.

 

"I have to go." Alex's voice cracked, the emotion breaking through. She turned around and as her friend Allie went to grab her arm, Alex pushed her away.

 

As the door shut, Kelley broke. "NO." She yelled, Mallory jumped, surprised from the reaction. "NO." Kelley started pacing back and forth quickly. She kicked the toilet stall door over an over. "NO, NO, NO." Her voice started to break and Mallory rushed over, grabbing her from behind and pulling her in tight to hold her still. "Nooo" Kelley was softer and started crying, her legs falling out from underneath her, knees hitting the ground. Mallory let Kelley's weight drop completely to the ground, wrapping Kelley up tight, feeling silent sobs escape her body. Mallory was in shock, completely dumbfounded by what just happened. Clearly her and the other woman had walked in on something. Mallory and and their friends had seen the way that Kelley followed someone away from the stage. Mallory thought she would check on her to make sure everything was okay. Clearly things weren't.

 

"Kelley?" Mallory whispered in her ear. Mallory got no response. Kelley wasn't budging from that spot. Her body now leaning in on Mallory, hiding her face, the sobbing now stopped. Mallory didn't want to move her but knew they couldn't stay on the bathroom floor. She grabbed her phone from her clutch she had with her and messaged Ashlyn.

 

_"Ash, I need you in here!!!!_ "

 

Moments later, Ashlyn walked through the door and sees the 2 women on the ground.

 

"What happened?" Mal was shaking her head like she didn't want to get into it and raised her finger to her lips in a shushing motion.

 

"Can you help me get her up?"

 

"Yeah, wait, let me get the Taxi here, and I will message Ali and get the others out the front."

 

Ash was texting on her phone while Mallory sat there holding Kelley, stroking her hair feeling a whimper every now and then. Ashlyn looked really worried and confused, not knowing what got her friend in the state she was.

 

"Okay, the taxi is out front and Ali and Jessie are waiting. Dom and Syd will head off in their own later." Mallory leaned down to whisper in Kelley's ear.

 

"Kel, it's time to get up. Let me take you home." The only response that Mal got was a whimper and a little nod acknowledging her. Kelley slowly got to her feet but she kept her face down, not looking at anyone.Ashlyn looked at Mallory again for answers. _Not here_ , Mallory mouthed back.

 

The drive home was quiet. No one said anything, picking up on the energy from Kelley. When they got back to the apartment, Kelley went straight to her room and shut the door. Ashlyn went to Mallory for answers.

 

"Tell me what happened Mal."

 

"Honestly I don't know. I'm really confused. When I walked in she was talking to some girl. Talking like they really knew each other. The girls friend was there and she said they needed to leave. Kelley lost it when she did. I've seen Kelley angry before but I'm surprised she didn't break her foot, she was kicking the cubicle door repeatedly while she screamed.....I have never seen her like this."

 

 

 

Kelley was laying on her bed. She felt numb...heartbroken..shocked. Losing Alex from her life once was torture..losing her a second time..unimaginable.

 

_Kelley banging her hands hard on the windows of the car. The car is slowly reversing out of the driveway and she can see Alex up against the window sobbing uncontrollably. Alex's palms are flat like she is trying to push on the glass_

 

_"No, you can't do this. Please don't do this." Kelley screams out, trying to claw at the glass. The car pulls away and starts to drive down the road. Kelley is left on her knees in the middle of the road sobbing, watching as Alex's distraught face gets further away._

 

 

 

 

 

Kelley began sobbing again, it wasn't quiet and it shook her body. She felt an arm wrap around her waist from behind and hold her in tight. Kelley turned in their arms and held on with everything they had while she continued to cry.

 

 

When Mallory heard Kelley through the bedroom door she didn't hesitate going in for a second. Whatever Kelley had gone through, whatever Kelley was going through, was slowly breaking her, if not already broken her. Mal saw Kelley laying on her bed, her whole body shaking from crying so she walked up behind and wrapped her up as best she could. What she wasn't expecting next was Kelley to turn over and let herself be wrapped up like Mal was her cocoon. After about 20 minutes the crying stopped, after another 10 the breathing evened out. Kelley had cried herself to sleep but she was still gripping tight onto the front of Mallory's dress.

 

Mallory didn't want to leave Kelley and there was no way she was going to leave her alone tonight.She was able to release Kelleys grip gently so she slid off the bed and quietly snuck out the door.

Most of the lights were off and Mal found Jessie laying on the couch. It looked like she was asleep so Mal went straight in and got changed into an Atlanta PD shirt and her favorite sweat pants. Happy that she still looked reasonably good she walked over to the couch and knelt quietly beside Jessie, moving a strand of hair behind her ear. The movement woke Jessie up seeing as she wasn't heavily asleep yet.

 

"Hey, I thought you had gone to sleep?" Jessie whispered looking in between Mal's lips and her eyes. Mal leant forward and kissed her lips softly.

 

"Yeah, Kelley finally fell asleep but I couldn't sleep in that dress all night so I snuck out to get changed. I'm about to go back in there so I thought I would get you off this couch. My bed is a lot comfier." Jessie smirked and sat up.

 

"Are you trying to get me in your bed already?" Mallory chuckled back at her.

 

"As if I wasn't going to try that tonight anyway. I'm just sorry that I'm not going to be laying in there with you." Mal stood and pulled Jessie up with her. Neither of them hesitated to move in andtake each others lips. Jessie could feel that it could escalate and leave her very frustrated so she pulled back, ending the kiss with a final peck.

 

"Well I guess there will just have to be another time. Are you sure it's ok if I stay?" Mal nodded eagerly. It wasn't necessarily the right time but she didn't want Jessie to go yet. 

 

"I can't make you stay but I would like you to. I know it's not ideal, whatever is going on with Kelley is definitely going to rock our worlds and I need to be there for her but still....I would like it if you stayed for a bit." Mal was starting to look a little shy at the request she was making.

 

Jessie nodded and let Mallory lead her into a bedroom. Mal turned the light on and then went to get Jessie a change of clothes to sleep in. Looking around the room, Jessie was a little surprised with how clean it was. "Were you expecting company?" Mal put her head on the side, wondering what she meant. "Your room, it's very clean."

 

"Oh..yeah well...I actually like to have a clean room. The world is chaotic enough, I don't need it to be chaotic in here as well." Jessie nodded in understanding.

 

"Yeah I get that."

 

"Anyway, I'm going to let you change and I'll go back in with Kelley. If you need anything, just tap on the door. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. Towels are in the cupboard just over there." Mal pointed down the hallway.

 

"Thanks Mal. I'll see you in the morning." Mallory pulled Jessie in for one last kiss of the night, fingers wrapped around her neck.

 

"Go on a date with me?." Mallory mumbled against Jessie's lips.

 

"What was that?" Jessie chuckled at Mal and her shyness.

 

"I said, go on a date with me? Will you...go on a date with me?" Mal was nibbling on her own bottom lip while still holding onto Jessie's neck gently, playing with the hairs there.

 

Jessie smiled and leant in for another brief kiss. "I'd like that Mal."

 

Grinning like a winner, Mal slowly backed away from Jessie and walked back towards Kelley's door.When she popped her head back in there, she could see that Kelley hadn't stirred at all, still curled up in the spot. She crawled over to where she was with Kelley before, Kelley instinctively grabbing hold of her shirt again, snuggling in. Mal had never seen Kelley like this. Obviously she was seeking comfort with the way she was trying to hold Mallory but she had never seen her so vulnerable.

 

"Oh sweetie..what the hell did that girl do to you?" Kelley moved up so her head was lying on Mal's chest, Mal's arm resting over Kelley's back holding her in close.

 

 

 

 

 

"It's 11am, she won't come out of her room and she won't talk to me." Mallory was looking at Ashlyn and Ali, holding a cold plate of food in her hand. "I took in some eggs for her but she didn't even move from the bed."

 

"You sure she didn't just pass out last night and now she is sleeping off a hangover?"

 

"Oh c'mon Ash, she hardly drank anything at the bar. You know how much she can hold. And the crying last night. That was some heart broken crying. Our Kelley has had her heart broken before and never talks about it."

 

"That would explain a lot." Ali spoke as she walked over to the couch.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"C'mon Mal, you know Kelley just as well as any of us. You know she is broken. She just won't admit it. None of us know what really happened or why she is the way she is sleeping with women. All of us combined probably don't have enough hands to count the women she has slept with in the last year alone." Mal glared at Ali so Ali continued, putting her hands in the air in defense. "Hey I'm not slut shaming, she is free to do a she wishes, but you gotta admit, there is more to it."

 

Mal rubbed her face over her eyes frustrated, "I know, I know. She never talks about it."

 

"So what happened with you and Jessie? Pretty sure I saw her leave just before." Mal raised her eyebrow, smirk on her face.

 

"Nothing happened actually. I spent the night in with Kelley. I just let her sleep on my bed." Ashlyn shook her head laughing. "What...you think I was going to try it on with jessie considering my best friend was a fucking mess in the room over the hall?"

 

"Calm down Mal, I didn't mean anything bad by it. It's just your luck that the night you could have hooked up with someone you were on friend patrol." Ashlyn was quick to try and defend herself.

 

"We kissed, but you knew that. I asked her out on a date and she said yes, so I take that as a win. I'm glad we didn't just get drunk and fuck actually." Ali and Ash both laughed making Aww noises. "Oh shut up, we all have to start somewhere..not everyone can just fall in to a perfect relationship like you guys have."

 

"Hey it takes a lot of hard work to have a solid relationship. With us it's even harder for our schedules to match up." Ashlyn looked at Ali for reassurance.

 

"Exactly, but I think Jessie is special and I don't want to just mess it up by trying to get my rocks off. I actually like spending time with her. So it was nice sitting here and having breakfast with her this morning which is why I asked her to stay."

 

Kelley could hear her friends talking out in the main room. She knew she should have felt happy for Mal..but she felt numb. Completely numb. She didn't want to move, she didn't want to talk. Mot of all, she didn't want to think. Thinking just hurt so much because she kept thinking of those beautiful eyes she would always look into. That beautiful hair she used to run her fingers through and that beautiful voice that she used to hear whispering in her ear.

 

Feeling that ring on Alex's finger was like having her heart ripped out and stood on. Watching Alex walk out the door was like...she couldn't even describe the feeling properly. Kelley just knew that she would never allow anyone to make her feel that way again. If she felt numb, maybe that was a good thing. Kelley could feel the tears falling over her nose again. They were silent this time. She exhausted herself sobbing the night before and she still felt the effects from it. She had woken up in the arms of Mallory which she would have to thank her find for later.....but that moment when she woke up and realised Mal was there, looking at her... hoping for something, Kelley rolled over instantly saying Fuck You to the World.

 

Kelley heard when Mal bought in food for her to eat, but she couldn't imagine stomaching it. Kelley could hear Mal talking quietly with Jessie before Jessie left the apartment. They would go on a date together but Mal said she wanted to plan something special for Jessie when she knew Kelley was ok. Kelley also heard Ash and Ali talking about how Kelley was broken. Kelley just closed her eyes again hoping to fall back asleep to shut out the world and the thoughts she kept having.

 

 

Mal was sitting on Kelley's bed leaning her back against the wall. Kelley had woken up a little while ago but she wasn't talking. She was still in the same spot that she rolled into when she had woken up. Mal was playing with Kelley's hair softly, watching as Kelley would only blink every few minutes, almost comatose. It was just coming up to 3pm, Mallory felt so lost on how to help her friend. She hadn't eaten or even gone to the toilet. Mal's not even sure how that was possible.

 

A knock came from the front door. Mal was hoping it wasn't Ash and Ali again. She said she would text them with an update later. Of course they were worried but right now, Mal just needed to give Kelley the space she could. It couldn't be Jessie, they had stayed in contact via text most of the day. Even though she was feeling her own internal buzz with what was going on with Jessie, she felt she was doing pretty well containing the excitement.

 

There was a knock again, Mal sighed and got up. Kelley's face didn't even flicker acknowledgement that there was anyone at the door. Mal shuffled her way there, fighting the light coming through the windows.

 

"Oh, Hey Tobs. C'mon in. What on earth brings you by?" Tobin stood there with a beautiful smile which seemed shadowed with concern.

 

"Hey Mal. I know it's a little random. Is Kelley about?" Tobin's voice always sounds so smooth, never giving away a sense of concern.

 

"Ummm, technically yes. But she is sleeping at the moment. What's up?" Tobin dug into her pocket and pulled out a white napkin.

 

"Kelley did a great show as always last night but something weird happened. Like 20 minutes after that, a woman came up to the bar and gave me this." Tobin passed over the napkin. "She asked if I knew Kelley. When I said I did, she asked if I could pass this on to her. She asked me not to forget and said she needed Kelley to have that." Tobin pointed to the napkin. "Now I'm used to women throwing themselves at Kelley....but this was different."

 

Mal played with the napkin in her fingers. "Was she a brunette?" Tobin nodded.

 

"Yeah, stunning to tell the truth. She had this husky voice, but her eyes, god they looked sad." Mal nodded and looked towards the bedroom door. "Is Kelley okay?" Mal nibbled on her lip considering her response. They had known Tobin a while so she didn't think being honest was an issue.

 

"Nah man. Far from it." Tobin put her hands in her pockets while she looked at the bedroom door too. It seemed that everyone knew Kelley as the life of the party who would battle through anything, so when Kelley didn't battle, something was wrong.

 

"Well, I need to get to the bar for a delivery. If I'm late Chris will kill me." Mal chuckled.

 

"There are worse things than being killed by a beautiful woman." Tobin put her head on to the side.

 

"That sounds really weird coming from a police officer, but.....yeah, feisty Christen is pretty hot."

 

"Oh I know. I've seen her kick a guys ass before because he wouldn't stop looking at your ass."

 

"Yep, that is Mrs Heath to a t. Anyway, let me know if I can do anything alright. You've got me worried."

 

"Well Tobs, I'm really hoping what you bought here today will change things." Tobin left with a wave, her phone ringing with Christen on the phone. They were a solid couple that no one would ever get between. People had tried and probably still would, but Tobin looked at her wife like she hung the stars and Christen looked at her wife like she created the sunsets.

 

 

Mallory made some coffee first, taking a cup in for Kelley as well. She was hoping the smell would get Kelley up more if she could get her talking. She put both their cups down on the bedside table. She knelt down beside the bed trying to get in the line of sight of Kelley.

 

"Kelley, hey look at me." Mal was stroking Kelley's cheek, trying to wake her out of her comatose state. "Kel..I know your hurting but I need you to listen." Kelley blinked but didn't look at Mallory. "I'll take that as a 'Yes Mallory'. Tobin just stopped by. She said she was approached by a brunette last night. She was given something to give to you." Mallory held up the napkin, trying to get Kelley to register anything. "Are you listening Kel?" Still nothing. "Okay, well I haven't looked at it yet so I'm just going to open it now for you." Mal was gentle when opening the napkin making sure she didn't tear anything. Once she registered what was there her eyes widened in surprise. "Kel, it's from her." Kelley hadn't answered or moved. "It says you haven't lost me...and she left a number." There was silence for a while. Mal not knowing what else to do or say.

 

"Alex."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Again...hope you are liking the story. Thank you for the Kudo's. Feedback is always appreciated.

Kelley knew she'd heard Mal say she had Alex's number. Her brain though couldn't shake the fog. Her body felt so drained from not eating and sleeping really badly too, so she just couldn't find the energy to move. Having Alex's number and having Alex in front of her were 2 different things. They seemed like a million miles apart. She knew Alex was getting married. Kelley didn't know when but the thought of her walking down the aisle and committing to someone else ripped Kelley's insides apart.

 

 

 

_'So are you going to marry me one day?' Kelley was looking into Alex's eyes while they lay on a blanket in a field of flowers. Alex was leaning up on her elbow, the top half of her body laying on Kelley's while she looked down into her eyes. She always felt like she could see a million galaxies in Kelley's eyes with the way they would sparkle at her. Alex smirked back._

 

_'I don't know. You haven't asked me yet?' Kelley nodded knowingly, she knew she would be asking Alex one day._

 

_'Oh I will be, when we are a bit older so we don't spend a million years engaged. But you know I don't want anyone else right? You're my one." Alex moved down to reach Kelley's lips._

 

_'I know Kel, you're my one also. I can't imagine marrying anyone else. Ever.....' Alex kissed Kelley again before adding. 'What we have is eternal'. Kelley reached her hand up and around Alex's neck, bringing her down for another kiss, pulling her body to be laying completely on top of her own. Alex's body always felt like it moved to sit perfectly against Kelley's, just like a jig saw puzzle piece. Kelley rolled them over so Alex was underneath, Kelley wanted to control the kiss...but also move her hand slowly up under Alex's shirt._

 

_Alex moved her hand to be on top of Kelley's, stopping its progression up under her shirt. Kelley stopped the kiss, moving her head back to smirk at Alex. Alex casually raised her eyebrows at Kelley, not looking away from those sparkly eyes._

 

_'Where is that hand going young lady?'_

 

_'Well to be honest...it wants so badly to go the other direction but I know we don't have a lot of time so I was hoping I could just feel you up instead.' Alex giggled and smacked Kelley on the arm._

 

_'My god you sound like a teenage boy.' Alex grabbed Kelley's hand and moved it up to sit on a breast. She then grabbed the back of Kelley's head, gripping some of her hair in her fingers, 'I need to be home in 45 minutes' before they mashed their lips together again._

 

 

 

Mal knelt beside the bed watching Kelley stay in her comatose state. The only acknowledgment that Kelley gave her was a silent tear that fell down her face on to the bed.

Mal got up and started pacing around outside Kelley's room. The napkin was moving through her fingers. After 5 minutes of pacing and chewing on her lip, Mallory made a decision. She grabbed her phone and dialed the number on the napkin.

 

There was an answer after 2 rings "Hello?"

 

Mal hadn't really thought of what to say so she stumbled a bit. "Ooooh hey...is this Alex?"

 

"Yes it is."

 

"Umm, hi..my name is Mallory. You saw me in the bathroom last night at Harry's..you were talking to Kelley."

 

"Oh..hi."

 

_"_ Kelley's my best friend."There was a bit of silence between both of them. Alex clearly wasn't expecting a phone call from someone else.

 

"Um..is Kelley okay?" Mal was shaking her head emphatically and then realized that the other woman couldn't see the response.

 

"No.. not really. I don't know who you are..or what has gone on between you 2 but...Kelley needs you right now."

 

"Where is she?"

 

"Laying in her bed...she hasn't moved for the last 15 hours."

 

"No..I meant..where can I find her?" Mal rolled her eyes, sometimes she wondered how she became a police officer.

 

"Oh right..have you got a pen?" Mal gave Alex her address and with the promise of Alex being there as soon as she could after tidying things up at work, Mal began to wait.

 

Thirty-five minutes later there was a knock on the door. Mal opened it up to find a beautiful brunette in a white trench coat standing there nervously, she recognized her from the night before.

 

"Hey, Alex?" The brunette nodded. "I'm Mal, thanks for coming over. Please come in."Mal moved back to open the doorway for her and gestured for her coat. Under the jacket was a dark red blouse and black slacks indicating she did indeed come straight from work.

 

"I'm really sorry I had to leave the way I did last night. My friend was not going to leave me alone and my fiancé was there too." Alex was bobbing her head slowly while she spoke, sounding confident but showing she was nervous.

 

"I'm just glad you gave your number to Tobin. She only dropped it by a little bit ago on the way to work, and I'm really just trying to wrap my head around everything." Alex stood there listening, chewing on her lip still.

 

"I take it you've never heard of me?" Mal shook her head.

 

"Honestly, Kelley doesn't....discuss woman with people...Kelley doesn't do relationships." Alex frowned.

 

"You mean.." Alex didn't say what she was going to say.

 

"I've known Kelley for a while now, she has never had a girlfriend, never probably seen the same chick twice." Alex's frown got even more intense. "Alex...were you Kelley's girlfriend?"Alex's eyes darted over to meet Mallory's, a small smile on the corner of her lips. She then looked away but then nodded. Alex moved to look at a photo on the wall. They were of Kelley and Mal standing together, Kelley in her fire suit and big boots, Mal in her uniform with a gun. Another near by had Kelley standing on top of her firetruck, big smile on her face. Alex ran her finger tips over the photo.

 

"I always knew she was going to save the world." Alex whispered.

 

"Yeah she certainly tries." Mal stood to stand behind her, "I just think she believes that she doesn't deserved to be saved too." Alex turned around to look at Mal, wiping a tear from her cheek.

 

"Can I see her?" Mal looked back at the closed bedroom door, nodded and walked over, gesturing for Alex to follow. Mal knocked on the door, not really expecting a response.

 

When the door opened Alex could see Kelley's body laying on a bed. She was lying on her side, arms in front of her like she was clinging on to something. Alex didn't hesitate, climbing onto the bed and laying in front of Kelley, wrapping her hands around the hands already there. She moved one of her hands to move the lose strands of hair away from Kelleys face. She continued to strokeover Kelley's ear and through her hair.

 

Mal watched on but then felt like she was intruding so she moved back and shut the door, silently praying that calling Alex was the right thing.

 

 

Kelley was fighting through the cloud around her head. She could hear the voice she had been longing to hear and even though she thought it was a dream, she wanted to clear the fog so she could hear her dream voice clearer.

 

"Please don't hate me." Kelley swore she heard those words come from Alex...Alex...her beautiful Alex. She could never in her life hate Alex.

 

"It tried to get back to you..to find you..Every where I turned, they wouldn't let me." Kelley felt like she was able to finally focus her eyes to see the person in front of her. Was it actually her?

 

Alex could see Kelley's eyes slowly start to focus. Alex was hoping if she kept speaking to Kelley it would finally break her out of her void. "C'mon Kel..come back to me. I know you're in there."

 

Another minute later Kelley closed her eyes like she was about to drift of to sleep, but after about 10 seconds her eyes opened and focused on Alex. Alex grinned happy to finally see those eyes looking at her again.

 

"Hey...there she is. I was hoping you would come back soon."

 

"Are you really here?" Alex nodded slowly.

 

"Yeah Kelley. I'm real. See?" Alex moved her hand to run down Kelley's ribs, just under her breast plate, knowing this was one of her secret ticklish places. Kelley flinched to cover the area, a look of bewilderment on her face.

 

"How did you get here..in my room?" Alex chewed the inside of her cheek.

 

"Your friend called me. Last night when I had to leave, I left my number at the bar hoping they would give it to you. Thankfully they did and then your friend Mallory called me."

 

"I can't believe you're here." Kelley leant forward, gently grabbed the back of Alex's head and pulled it to rest against her forehead. After a minute, Kelley pulled back and her eyes grew wide. "OhmygodIneedtopee." Kelley shot up and ran out the door. Mal walked over and looked inside.

 

"Is she okay?" Alex nodded.

 

"Well she is awake at least. She realized she needed to go to the bathroom. Is she ok? I'm not sure yet." Alex spoke to Mallory honestly. She figured this is how she needed to handle being here. Honest and open. Kelley deserved that.

 

Ten minutes later Kelley walked back to her room after having a quick shower. She figured while she was up she should shower rather than subject Alex to how she smelt after laying in bed all day. Alex was sitting out in the lounge room talking to Mallory. They both had a small smile on their faces which was much better than the frowns Kelley was expecting. Mallory stood up to leave.

 

"I'm going to go and get us some food. You haven't eaten all day, I'll be back in about 45 mins, okay?" Mal looked at Kelley to make sure she was okay with her leaving but giving her the knowledge that she would be back in case things didn't go well.

 

Kelley sat down opposite Alex so she could look at her properly while they spoke.

 

"So...you're a firefighter?" Kelley nodded.

 

"Yeah I have been for a few years now." Alex looked at Kelley in awe.

 

"I always knew you would do great things Kel. You were always the care taker. You're still playing too I take it?" Kelley tilted her head on the side, thinking about what Alex meant.

 

"Oh..last night. I play a little. Not like I used to though. It's a good way to let off steam and yesterday was a pretty shitty day...the whole day in fact." Alex was chewing her bottom lip.

 

"I'm sorry I had to leave last night...my friend wouldn't have given up and we definitely wouldn't have had the chance to talk like now."

 

"Alex..it felt like my heart was ripping apart again...to tell you the truth though, I think it was more from that." Kelley pointed to the ring on her finger. Alex nodded slowly, thinking about what she should say. "When do you get married?"

 

Alex looked away from Kelley, not able to look at her while she answered. "8 months." Kelley snapped her head back dramatically.

 

"Thank god." Alex looked at her again, one eyebrow arched. "It gives me time."

 

"Time for what?" Alex looked Kelley straight in the eyes.

 

"To win you back." Alex had a tear roll down her cheek silently.

 

"You still want me?" You voice broke while she asked. Kelley got up and knelt down on the floor in between Alex's legs.

 

"I've never stopped wanting you Al. You own my heart and always have. No other woman could ever live up to you." Alex leant her head down so their foreheads were touching. "I have different dreams at night but they are always of you...us laying on the blanket when we would go to the fields. You telling me you loved me for the first time...making love to you by the fireplace....him...him taking you away."

 

Alex started sobbing, her head still resting against Kelley's. Kelley shuffled in closer to Alex and wrapped her arms around her body, holding her tight. Alex nuzzled her nose into Kelley's neck while she cried.

 

"We're different people now..you might not like who I am." Alex mumbled into Kelley's neck.

 

"Al, I fell in love with you when I was 12. I saw you every day for 6 years...except for the times you went away to see your Grandma. Do you honestly think I don't know who you are?" Alex stayed where she was, holding onto Kelley like her life depended on it. "How long have you been with your fiancé?"

 

"2 years. My dad set us up." Kelley looked away in disgust.

 

"Of course he did." She felt like the bile in her stomach was now sitting in her throat. She felt such hatred towards that man..it would never change.

 

"It tried you know?" Kelley looked at Alex again questioning her. "I tried calling you. Dad caught me..he grounded me for a month. Complete lock down." Alex was looking off into nothing while she spoke, laughed a little at her self. "Of course...I tried again." Alex bought her eyes back to look at Kelley. "I got grounded for 2 months....He then turned off the house phone, I had no access to a phone or ages. It wasn't until he felt enough time had passed that he let me go anywhere by myself."

 

Kelley was still on her knees, in between Alex's legs, continually touching strands of Alex's hair. 

 

"The one time I managed to get to your house when I had gone away to look at schools, he didn't know I had managed to buy another plane ticket. When I went to the house, it had been sold. Another family opened the door. At that point I lost all hope of tracking you down......So I stole the fence paling and left them alone."

 

Kelley's body shook with laughter. "You stole the fence?"

 

"Well, not all of it..just the bit that has Kelley loves Alex forever scratched in to it." Kelley rolled her eyes but it didn't stop the laughter.

 

"I didn't know where you went to, I tried finding you but your facebook closed...I couldn't find you at all."

 

"Yeah he went to great lengths to stop you. When I was in school he bought Serv over for dinner with his family one night. It was like it was all arranged. A good church boy who was going to be successful and acceptable of having his daughter...I'm just lucky I was allowed to finish school."

 

"What do you do?" Kelley whispered out. "Are you?" Alex nodded.

 

"I became a kindergarten teacher. It might not be the amazing teacher who will change lives but at least it's working with kids." Alex had always wanted to be a teacher. She wanted to be an impact on someones life. Alex and Kelley had a teacher who understood them and tried to help them, Alex wanted to do the same.

 

"You get to mould the shape of a little person Alex. That's amazing. Don't sell yourself short." Alex scoffed.

 

"Doesn't matter much anyway. Dad expects that when I get married, I stop working...become the perfect housewife for my husband." Kelley almost growled.

 

"Why are you doing this then Alex? Don't marry him." Kelley said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

 

Alex threw herself back on to the couch. "You know it's not that easy Kelley. He controls everything around my life. I will be cut off from all my family if I don't."

 

"Then they don't deserve to have you if they are willing to stand by and let that happen to you." Kelley locked her eyes with Alex, wanting her to feel the honesty in that statement.

 

"I'll have nothing."

 

"You will have me." Kelley didn't hesitate for a second to say it. "You know you will. You're older now..I won't let him take you away from me again....plus..my best friend is a police officer, I would have her track you down."

 

"I don't think it's that easy Kelley." Kelley stood up and then pulled Alex into a bone crushing hug.

 

"I have 8 months to show you how much I still love you." Alex nodded into Kelley's neck. "I have 8months to remind you how much you loved me."

 

"Believe me Kel, it's not something you have to remind me of."

 

"Well, I'm going to show you anyway." Kelley kissed Alex's cheek, right on the corner of her lips. It wasn't a quick peck ether, she did it with years of longing. "I want to kiss you so bad Alex...." Alex was in Kelley's space, they were breathing the same air.

 

"I know...but we can't." Kelley nodded, understanding that Alex would never do that to another person.

 

"God it's going to kill me to think of him touching you..watching him kiss you when I know that that should be me. Does he treat you right?" Alex shrugged.

 

"He's nice guy." Kelley frowned at that answer.

 

"Do you love him?" Alex shook her head slowly.

 

"I thought maybe one day I would learn to love him. Like I said, he's a nice guy." Kelley was still frowning.

 

"He doesn't force himself on you does he?" Alex was quick to answer.

 

"No...he wouldn't ever...it's just not...I don't...It's just not you." Kelley's hand slowly traced over the material on Alex's body, stopping when her hand came to rest on her hip, sliding to her ass. Alex's breath hitched and she took a step in closer to Kelley as much as possible.

 

"Oh god I need to stop." Kelley stepped back, "I can't touch you and not want to touch you..."

 

"Okay so we have boundaries...no hands on my ass...for example." Kelley laughed.

 

"Noted."

 

"When can I see you again?" Kelley looked at Alex with hope. Alex held out her phone.

 

"Could you put your number in so I can call you?" Kelley didn't hesitate for second. "You won't be able to get rid of me now."

 

Kelley smiled but looked so deeply into Alex's eyes. "I could never want that."

 

"I'm going to have to go soon." Kelley nodded, sadness creeping into her eyes. Alex moved back into her space and cupped both hands around her cheeks. "I promise you Kelley, I'm here..we can talk..we can see each other. We can hang out. I'm here." Kelley reached up and touched Alex's lips.

 

"I've got 8 months."


	7. Chapter 7

"So you're telling me...that you haven't seen this chick in what, 6 years and this is why you are the way you are?" Kelley just rolled her eyes at Ashlyn, but couldn't deny the truth.

 

"Well, it's a little bit more than that, but year, it's been 6 years, nearly 7 since I saw her."

 

"And what, you expect to just roll in and win her over? What makes you think she still wants that? Are you sure that's even what you want? She broke your heart all those years ago.." Kelley broke Ashlyn off from what she was saying.

 

"No wait, she didn't break my heart..my heart broke because I lost her." Kelley was still in the process of trying to explain what had happened the night before, Alex leaving only leaving a few hours earlier. Alex had stayed as long as she could but her fiancé was expecting her and she didn't want to set off any alarm bells.

 

"Ash, settle down. Kelley has just come out of a coma and is still trying to process all this." Mal tried to calm Ash down while sliding a new beer over to her. Ali was at work so she wasn't around to reign her in as usual. "I met Alex, she's seems pretty cool. Believe me when I say she looked just as into Kelley as Kelley was into her.She looked like she had slept like shit too, although sill absolutely fucking stunning." Kelley nodded quickly.

 

"I know right." Kelley said with a goofy smile. "She was always beautiful when we were younger but she has definitely grown up." Mal chuckled at her friend.

 

"So you're saying you never thought you would see her again?" Ash kept up with the questions. She hadn't seen Alex at all so she was gonna put their opinions on the back burner.

 

"Well, how could I think I would? Her Dad took her away just before she turned 18 and I haven't heard from her since. She said he had gone to extreme lengths to keep us apart, pretty much imprisoning her every time she made an attempt to talk to me and by the time she was able to get back to my old house we had moved. So yeah, I never thought I would see her again and same for her."

 

"And you still love her?" Ashlyn still seemed confused.

 

"I never stopped." Kelley could see that Ash was struggling to understand and she could understand considering the amount of women they had seen her with. So she started slowly,"Listen, I met Alex when I was 12, she was 11. As soon as I met her, my heart was hers. Those blue eyes sucked me in and I made sure that I got a chance to see her everyday. It was on my 16th birthday when she kissed me. We'd always been close but I had never told her how I'd felt, knowing how religious her family was, I didn't think she would be in to me." Kelley looked at Mal and Ashlyn, their eyes locked on her."Apparently she had wanted to tell me for a while but you know what it's like when you're 15 and gay, let alone having a super religious up brining."

 

"So her whole family is like that?" Kelley nodded.

 

"Well her sister is a little more chill but yeah, her mum is just as bad as her dad."

 

"So you hid it for years?"

 

"Mm, I'm not really sure when they caught on, but they caught us one day and that was the day they took her away." Kelley eyes portrayed everything she was feeling. "It was the beautiful love story, beautiful love scene. It wasn't our first time, but my parents were away that weekend and she had spent the night and we made love by the fireplace." Kelley was chewing on her lip as she thought of the scene. Mal had a small smile, thinking of a love struck Kelley, making love to her girlfriend by the fireplace.

 

"Kel's a romantic..who'd have thought." Kelley nodded.

 

"Yeah that woman does things to me. Girl back then I guess, but she always did. We talked about getting married when we were older.....but her father broke into my house and found us there, we were both asleep and he just ripped her away. He got her dressed, put her in the car and then drove away. I still dream about it." Kelley wanted to be as honest as she could, her friends needed to know.

 

"What they just left?" Kelley nodded slowly, away in her thoughts.

 

"Yep, had the house packed up and moved on but he took her away that day. She was sobbing and banging on the car windows, screaming for her dad to stop but he would have run me over that day..he nearly did. I tried to stop the car but he had one thing on his mind and that was taking his daughter away from the brain washing lesbian who would ruin his daughters life."

 

"Wow Kel, why didn't you tell us?"

 

"What, tell you about a sad story from when I was 18?"

 

"Well it clearly marked you." Ashlyn wanted to ask so many questions.

 

"Yeah it did. I never thought I would see her again and never thought I could love anyone the same again." Kelley's phone vibrated in her hand, making her smile when she saw Alex's message.

 

**_Blue Eyes 10:39pm :Don't give up on me..please.._ **

 

**_Hot stuff 10:40pm : It's not possible_ **

 

"So she gets married in 8 months? 8 months to win her back and prove you love her." Ashlyn was nodding like they could come up with a good plan.

 

"It's not about proving I love her." Ashlyn and Mal looked completely confused. "She knows I love her. It's about showing her that she will be okay without her family." Ashlyn cocked her eyebrows, Mal's head was on the side in thought. "It's about showing her she will be okay without her family. She chooses me, she loses everyone in her life. That's a big thing to come to terms with."

 

"Wow, this is some fucked up stuff." Ash was rubbing her head, a small bruise still showing.

 

"Her father expects her to marry into a strong successful family. He would never expect a female firefighter which means, she has to choose."

 

"What are you going to do Kelley if she doesn't choose you?" Kelley looked off deep in thought.

 

"Keep loving her until the day I die."

 

 

 

Kelley and Alex had text and talked to each other every day for the next week. Alex would tend to call Kelley on the way home from work. If Kelley was at work herself, she would still talk until she got a call out. They were trying to get to know what they had missed for the last 6 years. Kelley yearned to hold Alex and be with her but knew that she couldn't have that and if she wanted to have that again, she would need to be patient.

 

 

 

Another 3 weeks passed and there hadn't been anymore warehouse fires. Everyone was a little on edge still because the longer it went, the sooner they knew it would come.

 

 

"Jessie, are you coming over tonight?" Kelley was watching Jessie finish rolling up one of the hoses, their truck just returning from a small house fire.

 

"Mmm, probably. Mal is taking me out to dinner so I'd say it is definitely on the cards." Jessie had a small little smirk on her face, knowing what Kelley was getting at.

 

"Oh god, I'm going out then..maybe I should just crash at Ash's, Ali's got a night shift so it will be safe there for a change." Jessie laughed.

 

"What, you don't want to hang out and watch a movie afterwards?" Kelley laughed in her face.

 

"Hah. Firstly, what you call watching a movie is what 16 year olds do. And it's also what I know is going to happen afterwards." Jessie was laughing as well.

 

"What.. you don't want us having sex in the apartment?"

 

"Go nuts.....Good for you for getting some...It's the noise. I do not need to hear the noises that come from that room...or the screaming. If I hear 'oh fuck me Jessie' being screamed out one more time, I'm going to find it very hard to look you in the eye ever again." Kelley was shaking her head. Jessie couldn't help but have a smug look on her face. Her and Mal had begun dating after their first date out together and they were in the honeymoon stage of sex every night...for hours.

 

"Well how about I buy you a box of ear plug and then it will be fine. I don't want to chase you out of your own home." Jessie was still smiling but had a look of guilt in her eyes.

 

"Don't worry about it Jess." Kelley walked up and squeezed her arm gently, "I get it, you both are completely into each other and I think it's great. Personally I think Mallory is just getting back at me for all the times she has heard noises coming from my room." Jessie nodded slowly.

 

"She had mentioned something like that when I told her to be quiet the other night."

 

"Just shove her face into the pillow, that will at least muffle some of the noise."

 

"I do." Jessie's smug response actually shut Kelley up for the first time ever between them.

 

 

 

Kelley, Dom, Jessie and Mal were out for drinks at Harry's a week later after their respective shifts. Kelley was up at the bar getting them all a round and a cute Brunette had stepped up to Kelley while she was waiting for their drinks to be served. The woman was laughing at something Kelley had said, running her fingers up Kelley's arm while leaning in a little closer than normal if you were just saying something to a friend. They had seen this many times before... but what they hadn't seen before is Kelley walking back to the table alone. Mal and Dom both looked at Kelley questioningly.

 

"What?" Kelley looked at them both questioning her.

 

"What happened to the hot chick?" Dom asked while pointing to the woman who was standing by the bar looking disappointed.

 

"I'm not interested." Mal watched Kelley, a small smile on her face. She was pleased to see that Kelley was changing her ways and that it all had to do with Alex. In fact, every bit of that had to do with Alex. Kelley slept with all those woman because she never thought she could have anything real and the only person she wanted real with was Alex.

 

"Well, I never thought I would see the day when a gorgeous woman is left standing, rejected by the great Kelley O'Hara." Dom cracked back at her.

 

"Well get used to it buddy. I don't want anymore random women." Mal squeezed Kelley's shoulder in acknowledgment. Dom hadn't been completely clued in on everything so he was just looking at Kelley intrigued.

 

"Well look who just walked in the door." Mal nodded her head to the front, showing the others who she meant. Kelley's eyes instantly lit up as the 2 women walked up to the table.

 

"Hey Alex and friend, fancy seeing you here." Mal had a smirk on her face but noticed how Alex's friend looked a little uncomfortable. "Kelley, why don't you introduce your friends here?" Kelley managed to pull her eyes away from Alex for a second, standing up beside Alex to introduce them both.

 

"Dom, Jessie, Mal..this is Alex and her friend Allie. I mentioned to Alex that we were heading out tonight but I wasn't sure if they could make it." Kelley placed her hand on the small of Alex's back, Alex leant in and whispered in Kelley's ear.

 

"I couldn't handle another week of not seeing you." Kelley blushed a little at that admission but she was definitely happy that Alex admitted to feeling that way.

 

"Hey guys, move around so Alex and Allie can fit in the booth." Kelley grabbed hold of Alex's hand and pulled her in the direction to sit beside her in the booth with Allie on the end.Kelley could see that Allie was very skeptical about being there but she needed Allie to see that Alex seeing her wasn't a bad thing. "Seeing as we are all comfortable, let me get someone over for drinks." Kelley whistled, Christen looking over shaking her head. She sent one of the waitresses over and they got their drinks going.

 

It only took around 30 minutes and Allie looked like she was starting to relax. Kelley leant over to Alex while Allie was engrossed in a conversation with Mallory.

 

"Does she know about us?" Kelley whispered into Alex's ear, she was close enough that her breath was causing Alex to stutter, if she could form any words at all. Instead she just nodded subtly.

"Does she hate me?" To this question, Alex turned her head to face Kelley, leaving their lips mere inches apart.

 

"No, not at all, she's just worried about me..about this situation." Alex waved her hands in between her and Kelley, the situation being them.

 

"Is she worried I'm going to hurt you?" Alex shook her head, their lips still so close, Alex trying to keep her eyes looking into Kelley's rather than flicking down to her lips.

 

"No, it's hard to explain. She's worried about me being married to Serv, if I don't want to marry him. She thinks I'm being forced to marry him."

 

"Well, she wouldn't be wrong." Kelley had her eyebrow raised, looking straight into Alex's eyes. Alex started chewing on her lip and looked away. Jessie could see there was a little tension building between Alex and Kelley so she tried to start some conversation without getting her Mentor mad at her.

 

"So Alex, what made you want to be a Kindergarten teacher?" Alex smiled a little at the thought. Kelley looked over to Jessie, thankful in a way that she wasn't left to her own devices to say something stupid.

 

"Actually, I always wanted to be a teacher, more with Teenagers but it just turned out that I ended up as a kindergarten teacher instead." Allie looked over curious.

 

"Really, your dad always talks about how you wanted to be a kindergarten teacher when you were little because you couldn't wait to have your own kids." Kelley scoffed, shaking her head, looking up into the ceiling trying to bite her tongue. She felt Alex slide her hand onto her thigh and she gave Kelley a little squeeze trying to tell her it was okay.

 

"Actually Allie, I always wanted to be more of a mentor, someone to help mould the lives of teenagers who were struggling. Sort of like how I was when I was younger." Alex took a sip of her drink before continuing, "My father is a very difficult man, kindergarten teaching was more of a compromise." Kelley was surprised but happy that Alex was being honest with her friend and in front of her own friends. "Kelley and I had a really great teacher when we were in high school who helped me a lot, so she sort of showed me how important it was for young adults to have that support around." Kelley shuffled a little and put her arm up on the back of the booth to get comfortable while they spoke, not used to people knowing about her personal life so much. Alex surprised everyone by leaning in and getting comfortable against Kelley's side, still keeping her hand on Kelley's thigh.

 

"How old were you when you met?" Dom was very curious now, the brunette at the bar being rejected made a little more sense, although the engagement ring was throwing him off.

 

"I was 12. Alex 11." Kelley said with a smile, "Alex had just moved to my school and came to try out for the soccer team I was on." Mal laughed out loud and then needed to explain as Kelley was glaring at her.

 

"Sorry I just had a vision of little Kelley running around with her pigtail." Kelley rolled her eyes.

 

"Yeah yeah, don't be fooling yourself Mal, little Kel was hot, even back then." They all laughed at the thought of Kelley with her pigtails thinking she had game but underneath the table Alex was now stroking her thumb over Kelley's jeans making it hard for Kelley to keep thinking straight.

 

"Remember those boundaries?" Kelley whispered into Alex's ear.

 

"Sorry." Alex went to move away from Kelley and began to move her hand but Kelley grabbed it with her other quickly keeping it in place.

 

"I don't want you to move Al, "Kelley continued whispering, "The stroking is just making it really hard for me to think straight."

 

"You're not straight." Alex shot back quickly. 

 

"Neither are you." Kelley shot back just as quick. Before Kelley moved her mouth away from whispering in Alex's ear, she subtly kissed her on the cheek. Alex felt like her skin was burning, she started picturing those lips moving on other parts of her skin. Kelley noticed the blush on Alex's cheek, smirking at her as she watched it spread down her neck. Kelley glanced down and then met Alex's eyes again. "I wonder how far that blush is going to reach?" Alex smacked Kelley's thigh.

 

"Behave you." Alex pretended to glare at Kelley, but she was also wondering how red she was.

 

"Hey Al, come to the bathroom with me?" Allie started getting up, Alex looked at Kelley and sighed. She felt like she knew what was coming.

 

"Sure thing Allie, let's go." Allie waited until they got into the bathroom before she turned around to look at Alex, also checking that no one else was there.

 

"Okay, this is crazy."

 

"What do you mean?" Alex needed Allie to explain exactly how she was feeling.

 

"You are sitting with Kelley, who you look so comfortable with by the way. You have your hand on her thigh, don't think I didn't notice.... and I've never seen you this way before. You're like a completely different person." Alex chewed on the inside of her mouth.

 

"No Allie..this is me. This is the real me. Kelley always bought that out. My father expects me to be something else so that's who I pretend to be."

"But why? Why do it and why marry Serv if you aren'y happy?"

 

"Because my father ripped me and Kelley apart before and I know he will try and do it again. He wants me to marry Serv and have babies as soon as I can. He was pissed enough when I made our engagement so long." Allie was pacing with her hands on her hips.

 

"Now I understand why you did."

 

"Did what?"

 

"Made such a long engagement, when Serv was so keen to marry you like yesterday." Alex nodded. "You can't marry him Alex."

 

Alex shrugged in defeat. "If I don't, I'll lose everything."

 

"You don't have anything Alex if you aren't happy." Alex shrugged, looking up to the ceiling. "You need to think about it Alex." Alex threw her hands up in frustration.

 

"It's all I've been thinking about."

 

"No, you need to think about what does choosing Serv give you? What does choosing Kelley give you?" Alex put her hands on her hips and looked at Allie.

 

"I think we need to go back out there. I promise though, I am thinking about this whole situation." Allie nodded and walked over to grab Alex's hands.

 

"Al, spend some time with her, one on one. Get to know each other again. I'll get Bati to take Serv out fishing or away for the weekend on a Bro trip. This is important." Alex hugged Allie tight.

 

"Thank you for understanding."

 

"Thank you for trusting me with this information. I don't think I would have understood if I didn't get a chance to know Kelley better and see you with her. C'mon, let's go."

 

Alex took a deep breath before walking out but lost her breath again when she saw Kelley. She was standing there by the booth, laughing with her friends, light shining in her hair.She'd straightened her hair and it was loose around her shoulder, her jawline looked sharp. Kelley had grown in to a gorgeous woman with honest sparkling eyes. When Kelley looked over and caught sight of Alex, Alex could see how her eyes went from mischievous to gentle and that they were looking only at her. Kelley slid back into the booth ready for the others to join them again.

 

"Is everything okay?" Kelley whispered in Alex's ear. Alex pulled her head back to look at Kelley and took a second to answer. She slid her hand back on to Kelley's thigh where it was before. She gave Kelley a gentle nod.

 

"Everything will be." Kelley couldn't help but feel a little more hopeful with the way that Alex was looking at her. Alex leant back into Kelley's ear so no one would hear what she was saying.

 

"I just need a little bit of time...okay?" Kelley nodded so Alex knew she was heard. Alex kissed Kelley's cheek softly and then continued. "Thank you for understanding." Alex pulled away when there was loud laughter coming from their table. Allie was laughing hard at something Dom had said, Jessie just shaking her head in disbelief.

 

Mal caught Kelley's eye, giving her a subtle nod. Kelley responded with a small grin and a happy but determined look in her eyes. Mal leant over and kissed Jessie on the cheek, causing Jessie to blush.

 

"Are you kidding me," Kelley laughed at Jessie, "Mal kissing you not he cheek makes you blush but what us talking about the noises coming out of the bedroom doesn't." Mal looked surprised, wondering exactly what they have been talking about. Jessie just laughed back at Kelley though.

 

"But it wan't me making the noise Kel." Mal smacked Jessie's shoulder and her mouth was open in shock, disbelieving that her girlfriend was calling her out.

 

"My god, I'm completely surrounded by beautiful woman. It's like a man's sweetest dream." Dom sung in his English accent. The woman laughed at him.

 

"Good thing Syd knows you're a good boy. Actually, the women here aren't even available." Mal joked back.

 

"What..Kelley's single." He said. Everyone laughed.

 

"Yeah but it doesn't mean she's available." Dom thought about it for a second.

 

"Yeah I guess she is **very** gay." Mal leaned to whisper into Jessie's ear.

 

"That's not what I meant. Look at her, there is no one else in the room." Jessie nodded in agreement.She'd also been observing the interactions across the table all night.

 

The rest of the night played out exactly the same way, lots of laughter and a few more drinks. When it was time for everyone to leave, they all stood outside exchanging numbers with Allie so they could keep in contact. Mal and Allie also having their own agendas which were exactly the same respectively.

 

Kelley had pulled Alex over to the side away from the others so they could say goodbye considering she didn't know when they could see each other again.

 

"I hope you had fun tonight?" Kelley was holding Alex's hands, keeping her close in front of her.

 

"I had a great time. It's been so long since I've laughed like that." Kelley looked away unsure of what she should say.

 

"I'm sorry." Alex looked confused and pulled on Kelley's hands carefully.

 

"What are you sorry for?"

 

"For you not having the happiness in your life that you deserve." Alex held Kelley's eye contact, nodding slightly.

 

"Yeah well maybe it's time I start living my truth."Alex leant forward and kissed Kelley's cheek before wrapping her in a tight hug.

 

"Umm, Al, our rides here..sorry."Allie looked like she was sorry too. She didn't want to see Alex's smile fade, which she knew would happen when she didn't get to see Kelley.

 

Alex stepped back, their hands finally falling apart. "I'll text you okay." Alex turned and hopped into the car with Allie. Kelley stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. Alex waved to her from the window as the car pulled away.

 

"You okay Kel?" Mal stood beside Jessie, giving Kelley her space.

 

"Yeah man..it is what it is."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning!! Things getting a little dark at the beginning of this chapter. Trigger warnings for sexual assault.  
> Obviously this is all fictional and I'm not implying anything in real life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for all the great comments and the Kudos. I love to hear what you think. Thanks for taking the time to read it.

Right now Alex was in heaven. After all these years, she finally had Kelley where she wanted her, on top of her. The kisses were exactly how she remembered them, full of passion and love. Kelley never had an issue getting Alex wet within seconds and right now she was doing a fantastic job.

 

"Fuck." Alex mumbled against Kelley's lips as Kelley nibbled on Alex's bottom lip.

 

Kelley's hand was flat rubbing against Alex, applying pressure each time her hand passed over, her finger tips slightly teasing Alex where it was the wettest. While Alex continued to kiss Kelley and enjoy the feeling of having her almost inside her again, an odd feeling came over her. She couldn't piece the pieces together of how they got in this situation.

 

"Wait." Alex stopped kissing Kelley, causing Kelley to pull her head back slightly to look her in the eyes, however she didn't stop the movement between Alex's thighs.

 

"I think we should stop." Alex said to Kelley, but Kelley kept going. "Stop." Alex couldn't understand why Kelley wouldn't stop, all she did was grunt in response. Alex kept looking into Kelley's eyes, they looked so vacant. What Alex felt next was probably the biggest surprise and the most confusing. She felt this pressure from behind, it kept pushing and nudging her.

 

Alex closed her eyes, shaking her head to try and forget the vacant eyes in front of her. She found it really hard to open them again, but when she did, Kelley wasn't on top of her any more.

 

She was in her bedroom, light starting to filter in from behind the shades. Serv was laying behind her spooning her, his hand inside her sleep shorts, in between her legs, his fingers nudging her entry, slightly slipping in every now and then. He was thrusting up behind her, she wasn't sure if he was completely awake.

 

She reached behind to tap his arm. "Serv, stop it." All she could hear was little grunt, his thrusting staying pretty insistent. She tried grabbing his hand to stop what he was doing. "Serv, what are you doing? I said stop it." Suddenly she was pushed on her back, he was leaning on one elbow, his hand still inside her sleep shorts. She started pushing his shoulder back, he just put his head down on her shoulder, still moving his fingers, he started slipping one in deeper, surprisingly slow.

 

"Serv," She was getting really upset now, he wasn't normally like this and she didn't think he would ever touch her like this without getting her consent first. He opened his eyes and looked down at her, leaning down to kiss her hard, once again she tried to push him away. Suddenly he pulled his hands from her sleep shorts and shuffled, he grabbed both her wrists and held them up over her head, he leant back into kissing her again, the free hand not holding her wrists moved to one of her breast roughly grabbing, lazily trying to feel her grab her nipple.

 

"Serv, what are you doing?" His hand moved back down between her thighs again, his fingers moving through the wet.

 

"Mmm, so good." Alex started to move her hips away from him but he pulled his hand out and grabbed her waist, pushing her against the mattress. He then grabbed Alex's sleep shorts and roughly pulled them down her legs.

 

"Fuck Serv. I said stop. I don't want you to do this." He positioned himself between hers legs, his hand around his dick pumping slowly, ready to guide him self in. Alex started crying, scared and in shock. Serv looked up at Alex, a frown on his face, which then turned to frustration and a look of anger. He was still between her legs but hadn't pushed himself inside her yet. He slid his hand through her wetness, rubbing her all over his hand and then grabbed his dick. He started sliding his hand over his dick, using Alex's wetness as his lubricant. He continued to hold her hands above her head. Alex just watched him, his face changing, his breath becoming ragged as he got closer to his orgasm. He moved is hand faster and then jerked his hips, cumming all over her stomach with a loud grunt. He put his hand down on her chest for a second and then suddenly smacked his hand against the mattress, beside her head.

 

"God dammit Alex, we haven't fucked for over a month. What the fuck is going on?" Alex just looked at him in shock.

 

"So what, you thought you could just fuck me while I slept?"

 

"Maybe, at least you wouldn't say no." Serv let go of her wrists, the blood finally able to return, he'd held them very tight, most likely enough to bruise.

 

"You know that's called rape Serv?" He scoffed and laughed in her face.

 

"What the fuck are you on about? We're getting married."

 

"You still don't just get to fuck me when you want."

 

Serv roughly grabbed one of her breasts, she slapped him away.He just looked her shaking his head. "Fuck this." He got up and stormed over to the bathroom, turning on the shower.

 

Alex just lay there in complete shock as to how she was woken up and the events that followed. She never thought he would be that guy. Was this really what it was going to be like when they were married?

 

Alex pulled her pants back up and went into the kitchen to start on her coffee. There was no way she was going to get back to sleep so she might as well get ready for work too.

 

Fifteen minutes later Serv walked into the kitchen finishing off his tie around his neck.

 

"Don't make me the asshole Alex." Serv was glaring at her.

 

"Are you kidding me right now? You can't just do that?"

 

"Why not? People have sex in the morning too you know? I shouldn't have to find it somewhere else."

 

"Oh that's mature."

 

"No seriously Alex. We are getting married, you are the person I have sex with."

 

"And what if I don't feel like having sex?"

 

"Well, you better get used to being on your knees everyday then." He laughed as he said it.

 

"What's that meant to mean?" He kept laughing as he walked away but turned back before walking out the door. He stood there and grabbed his dick over his pants.

 

"I'm going to be fucking that mouth of yours every day." He stood there for a moment like he was thinking, "Fuck that sounds good actually," He looked at his watch, "Dammit, I don't have time." He didn't say anything else before turning around and walked out the door.

 

 

 

 

Alex was sitting in the staffroom at lunch time, her salad being spun around by her fork but not being eaten.

 

"Hey Al, are you okay?" Allie came and sat down, giving Alex one of her favorite smoothies instead. Alex gave her a small smile back taking the smoothie. She nibbled on her lip, looking at the ground, wondering just how much she should involve Allie.

 

"I can't do it." Allie thought she knew what Alex meant but she needed her to say it.

 

"What can't you do Hun?"

 

"I can't go through with the wedding." Alex was trying to hold back her tears, not wanting to break down while a work. "I can't marry him." Allie was concerned hearing the tremble as Alex spoke.

 

"Did something happen?" Allie grabbed Alex's hand trying to help her keep calm.

 

"I don't want to bring you into it any further Allie. I'm just realizing that it's not a marriage I can pretend to be in." Alex felt her phone vibrate on the table in front of her. At a glance she could see it was from Kelley.

 

**_Hot Stuff: Are you okay beautiful?_ **

 

Her breath out was a little shaky and she desperately wanted to be wrapped up safely in Kelley's arms. Alex quickly tapped out a reply before she ran out of time and had to head back to the classroom.

 

**_Blue Eyes: I just need to see you_ **

 

 

**_Hot Stuff: I'm on night shift but I can come see you if it's quiet._ **

 

 

**_Blue Eyes: Can I stay at your house tonight and then you can drop by if you can?_ **

 

 

**_Hot Stuff: What happened Alex?_ **

 

 

The alarm went which meant Alex didn't have much time to get to class before the children would be waiting for her. She would have to reply to Kelley later.

 

"Tell me what's going on Alex? You look scared." Allie was concerned now and needed to know what was making her friend so nervous.

 

"Trust me Allie, I now know that I can't marry him...and know it's not just because of Kelley." Alex got up and threw her salad into the bin and finished off her smoothie quickly.

 

"Did he do something?" Alex didn't answer and continued to get herself ready. "Did he hurt you Alex?" Allie grabbed her friends arm, wanting a proper answer. Alex finally looked up from the ground, unsure of how to answer. Did he hurt her that morning? Did it go too far. Unsure of how she felt, Alex just shrugged, "He will if I don't leave." With that answer, Alex walked out of the staffroom, leaving Allie unsure of what to do.

 

 

 

Kelley was going crazy. It had been only 1 hour since she had had a response from Alex but she'd picked up a vibe through their texts in the morning that something was off about Alex. The fact that she had now asked to stay at her house, that made Kelley have no doubt that something happened. She grabbed her phone again and pulled up the contact list, calling her house mate who was on shift.

 

"Hey Kel, everything okay?"

 

"Hey Mal, are you going to be home tonight after work?"

 

"Yeah, as you know Jessie is working and I have to catch up on my laundry. Why, what do you need?" Kelley hummed into the phone before she answered.

 

"Something is up with Alex....She asked to see me tonight and when I said I was working she asked if she can stay at our place."

 

"That's a bit weird."

 

"Yeah I know. I'm worried that something has happened but now she's gone back into class and she hasn't answered my text."

 

"I'll tell you what, I'm on shift for a few more hours but I'll drop by and surprise her at work. Let my partner here play with he kids for a little while." Kelley could hear a mumble in the back ground but then heard Mal tell them to quit it.

 

"I owe you Mal." Mal smiled but roller her eyes.

 

"Of course you don't, I can't stand in the way of true love." Kelley laughed and then hung up.

 

 

 

Mal walked down the quiet hall. A few little kids had seen her and look like they wanted to shit themselves. Mal was wearing her uniform which looked scary sometimes to little kids. Mal's partner Lindsey looked intimidating, purely due to her excellent resting bitch face. Mal had never met another woman that could make being disinterested look so god damn scary. Mal turned around to find Lindsey wandering down the hall, further behind her.

 

"Linds, hurry up."

 

"Oh pipe down. What the fuck are we here for anyway?"

 

"Cut the swearing, little ears can hear you." Lindsey rolled her eyes.

 

"Little ears should be in class."

 

When Mal got to the room she was after, she peeked through the top of the glass in the door and found Alex leaning down near some little girls who were painting. Mal knocked on the door and then opened it up slowly trying not to disturb anyone.

 

Alex looked over to Mal and shook her head, a small smile on her face.

 

"Is this an abuse of power?" Alex asked.

 

"I have no idea what you mean. We just came by to hang out with the little kids." Mal pointed her thumb towards her partner. "My partner here loves little kids." Lindsey snapped her head towards Mal with a warning glare, but she slowly walked over to where the little girls were painting at their easels.

 

"What are you doing here Mal?" Mal slowly walked towards Alex, hooking her thumbs over her pockets. "I don't message Kelley for a few hours so she sends the cavalry?"

 

Mal grabbed Alex's wrist to pull her close so they could talk. Alex winced at the touch which Mal definitely did not miss. Mal moved her hand to Alex's fingers so not to hurt her but pulled up her hand so she could see Alex's wrist properly. "What happened Alex?" Mal could see the feint bruises around her wrist, she grabbed the other to compare and saw the bruises to match the other.

 

"Nothing happened, just a little misunderstanding." Mal looked at Alex like she didn't believe her, not even for a moment.

 

"Right, and you want to stay over tonight because what?? You love how I butter your popcorn?" Alex rolled her eyes and tried to walk away but Mal pulled on her fingers bringing her back in to her. "What was he doing when he hurt you?"

 

Mal hadn't missed the way that Alex kept looking to the ground rather than at her. Mal reached up to Alex and cupped her cheek, bringing her face up gently.

 

"Alex, why did he do this?"

 

"He was trying to have sex with me." Alex whispered back, almost not making any sound at all.

 

"Did he force himself on you?" Mal could feel the anger bubbling up inside her, how could he hurt Alex like that. Mal could only imagine how Kelley was going to lose her shit when she found out.

 

"Do we really have to talk about it here? Can we please talk about it tonight instead?" Mal nodded quickly.

 

"Of course. What time did you want to come over?" Alex looked at Mal quickly, a scared look in her eyes.

 

"As soon as I finish work if that's okay? I don't want to go home. It's over, he just doesn't know it yet." That's when Mal knew something really bad was going on, for Alex to have made that decision already. Mal knew it would happen, she just thought it would be a few months at least.

 

"I'll be at work for a few more hours, just have to do some paperwork before the end of my shift." Alex looked away, uncertainty in her eyes."But there is a spare key in a groove under the window sill out the front. Let yourself in and help yourself to anything there. If you want to lay down, Kelley's room is clean." Alex let a silent tear roll down her cheek, a loud roar came from the back of the room. Lindsey had 3 children hanging off her and she was walking around like a monster. "Give me your keys, I'll stop by your house and grab you some clothes." At that moment Alex let out a deep breath, that had obviously been a thought that was stressing her out.

 

She walked to her handbag in the corner and pulled out some keys. "I'll get Bati to take him out for a while and let you know when he isn't there." Mal nodded, agreeing with the plan. Alex reached out and squeezed Mal's shoulder. "Thank you for coming by, I guess Kelley was worried that I hadn't text back."

 

"That woman is crazy about you. You stub your toe and she is gonna find out and then she will try and kill the thing that hurt your toe." Alex smiled a little at Mal's thinking.

 

"I know, that's why I'm a little worried about these." Alex lifted her hands to show her wrists properly. "I don't want her to do anything stupid."

 

"Yeah well...I actually don't know what she will do. Remember, I haven't seen her in a relationship with anyone, I know her protective friend side, not protective girlfriend side." Alex put her head to the side, thinking about that.

 

"She's not my girlfriend though." Mal was silent for a second and then laughed.

 

"Yet." Mal said locking eyes with Alex.

 

 

 

Mal was sitting back in the patrol car when she called Kelley. "She'll be over after work."

 

"Is she okay?" Kelley just felt like something was wrong and it was killing her that she just couldn't get there.

 

"She's okay..But we need to talk to her more later. You and me both."

 

"You're not going to tell me anything are you?"

 

"No..Not over the phone. I'm heading over to her house when she gives me the all clear to grab her things."

 

"What?"

 

"Yeah, like I said, we need to talk, it's Alex's story to tell but just remember Kelley, she is safe."

 

 

Mal was currently rummaging through Alex's bedroom collecting all the clothes and toiletries should could fit into the bags she found. It was a nice house she was living in, seems like it matched the successful to be husband that her father expected, even had a picket fence.After she had packed every piece of clothes that had been hanging and every high heel she could find, Mal put them into the car. She really didn't want to the there that long in case he came home early. Mal pulled out her phone and checked the list Alex had given. When she was happy that she had gotten all the specifics, she locked the house back up and drove over to her own place where their guest was waiting.

 

 

Kelley was standing in her bedroom, her shift had finished and it had been a busy and exhausting night. She'd never gotten a chance to drop by earlier because it was so busy.

 

Laying on her bed in front of her was the beautiful woman that she loved. The blankets were pulled up covering her body and Alex was laying on her side making it the perfect position for Kelley to slide in behind her to become the big spoon. Kelley slid her arm over Alex's waist and pulled her body in flush with her own. Alex automatically shuffled back so her body pushed back even further, her backside awfully close to Kelley's centre that was currently throbbing in want.

 

Kelley whispered taking a deep breath to try and steady her breathing. "God Alex, you can't do that!" Kelley felt a small chuckle rumble though Alex. Alex deliberately rolled her hips causing Kelley to moan and take another deep breath. Alex rolled over in Kelley's arms so she was facing her chest, their noses almost touching.

 

They just locked eyes for a moment before Kelley asked, "Are you okay?"

 

"I will be." Alex leant her forehead against Kelley's. "I've left him. I can't marry him."

 

"What happened for you to change your mind already?" Kelley had hoped this would happen but she needed to know the reason for things to happen earlier than she'd hoped.

 

"He gave me some insight to his expectations as his wife." Kelley growled, she had hated the thought of him wanting to be intimate through out this time and knew she couldn't actually hold it against Alex if she continued having sex with him. The thought made her feel sick but knew she had no right to expect any different.

 

"Did he hurt you?" Alex thought for a second about lying to Kelley but knew she would find out sooner or later, most likely sooner. Alex bought her wrists up so she could show Kelley and started to explain.

 

"I woke up yesterday morning, in the same position as this morning actually, it went very different though." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I may have been having a particularly inappropriate dream, featuring yourself," Kelley smirked a little a that, but so did Alex, blushing a little at the thought of the dream, "and when I woke up from that dream he was behind me and his hands were in my pants."

 

Alex felt Kelley's hand move to her hips, gripping tightly to hold her close. "He did what?"

 

"I guess he thought he could wake me up for morning sex, but the thing is, I haven't let him touch me since......." Alex stared in to Kelley's eyes again, "since that night I first saw you. He held my wrists above my head while he used his fingers and tried to encourage me for more. He pulled off my pants and got ready but I begged him not to. He seemed to snap out of it and jerked off on to me instead while he still held my hands down." Alex shook her head at the thought. "He still found a way to assert his dominance in the end." Kelley's breathing had quickened and rage had overtaken her usually gentle eyes.

 

"He touched you when you said no?" Alex took a deep breath and wanted to finish the story. "He said that he expects me to satisfy him as his wife when we are married and I asked what would happen if I didn't feel like having sex." She took another deep breath, "He told me to get used to being on my knees everyday."

 

Kelley was livid. For him to treat Alex like that was unforgivable.

 

"I didn't want to go back last night because I had a feeling that it would start then. Like he would come home from work and just tell me to get on my knees. Then I started to think about how it could really go. The thought of him just walking up behind me and taking me whenever he wanted, even if I said no. Clearly he would just do it because he believes he's entitled to fuck his wife." Alex stopped and look away from Kelley, needing to ground herself before she saw the anger in Kelley's eyes again.

 

"He's never going to touch you again. I won't let him near you." Kelley whispered out. Alex looked her in the eyes again.

 

"I know. I never feel unsafe when I'm with you." Kelley kissed Alex on the forehead.

 

"Do you want to stay here with us? I mean I know you have your friend's to go to but, just so you know, you can stay here."

 

"I don't want to stay at Allie's, they are too involved. Can I stay with you?"

 

"Of course, I know Mal won't mind and it gives me someone to talk to when Jessie stays over. You might want use some of my ear plugs though."

 

"Are they that bad?" Kelley laughed.

 

"I never realized just how thin the walls were." Alex's smile dimmed a little.

 

"Is that because you were the one torturing Mal?" Kelley's smile left too, understanding exactly what Alex was asking.

 

"Not one of the women I slept with meant anything..and it never happened more than once with the same person."

 

"Have there been a lot?" Kelley nibbled her lip horrified that they were having this conversation now but wanted to be honest.

 

"Yes..I've been with many women and for the first time it actually pains me to say it. I never thought I would see you again and I didn't want to love anyone other than you. I was angry and it never meant anything with any one else. It was just a way for me to blow off steam." Alex was very quiet but there was one thing she wanted to ask.

 

"Have you....have you been with anyone lately?" Kelley smiled softly and moved some hair away from Alex's eyes.

 

"Not since that night at Harry's. I actually think this is a record for me." Kelley laughed at herself.

 

"Why not?" Alex wanted to push this now and not have to think about Kelley with other women, although Kelley had every right to if she felt like.

 

"I only slept with them because I couldn't have the woman I wanted in my arms. But now I do...in a way at least.....have you in my arms. Alex, I only ever wanted you....That's all I want."

 

A silent tear slid down Alex's cheek. She couldn't help it.

 

She leaned in and kissed Kelley's lips.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your great comments and the kudos. I love to hear your thoughts. Have an awesome day.

Alex leant forward and kissed Kelley's lips.

 

It was gentle...and it felt like home. It took all of about 3.2 seconds for Kelley to realize what was happening and kiss her back.

 

Neither of the women rushed it and neither of them tried to take it any deeper. The kiss was more of a promise of more in the future.

 

Alex pulled back and saw the dopey smile on Kelley's lips but then also noticed how her eyelids were starting to shutter from being so tired. Alex leant forward and kissed her quickly but soundly once more and then grabbed Kelleys arm and held it while she turned around to become the little spoon, hearing Kelley's breathing slowly start to even out. Kelley's grip on Alex's waist was tight and comforting.

 

 

Kelley's eyes closed, she couldn't help it. The fact that she had just finished a busy shift and then had to control her anger while Alex told her what happened with her ex fiancé.She had this need inside to rip his body apart but Alex always had a way of calming her. She doesn't believe that was Alex's intention with the kiss though, but that's what the kiss did. It calmed her at least to feel exhausted, tired and content. All those years of not having Alex in her arms, all those empty conquests....but still Alex was somehow there again....and Alex kissed her.

 

Those amazing lips, the blue eyes. Everything else faded away when Kelley could look into those eyes and see her future right there.

 

The time between closing her eyes and being startled awake was not nearly long enough. Kelley woke up to an unfamiliar ring tone and Alex reaching for the bedside table.

 

"Shit." Alex rubbed her face in exhaustion, she just missed the call.

 

"Who was that?" Kelley could sense the tension pouring from Alex, Kelley pulled her in tighter to try and calm her down.

 

"That was my dad calling. I'm guessing he knows I've left Serv." Alex rolled over in Kelley's arms, resting her head on Kelley's chest. Kelley held her tight while rubbing circles over her spine.

 

The phone started ringing again. Kelley put her thumb under Alex's chin to bring her eyes even with Kelley's. "Can you put it on speaker so I can hear what he is saying to you?" Alex nodded and touched the green spot on her screen.

 

"Good morning Daddy." She might as well try and start it on a positive.

 

"Alex, what on earth are you doing? Where are you?"

 

"Well, I was sleeping, it's still quite early. And I'm staying with some friends at the moment."

 

"Don't get smart with me young lady." Alex closed her eyes, her fathers tone of voice condescending. "Why are you not home with your fiancé?"

 

"Because Daddy, I don't think... no... I can't marry him." It almost sounded like there was a growl coming from her father. Kelley continued to rub circles on Alex's back to keep her calm.

 

"Don't be stupid Alex. You will be marrying him. In fact, I was able to bring the wedding forward. There was a space in the church when I was talking to Father David last night."

 

Kelley was starting to feel her stomach tie in knots. Her father was determined as ever to make this happen and he was cutting down her time line.

 

"Daddy you haven't even asked why I can't marry him." Alex rolled onto her back to look at the ceiling. Kelley stayed laying on her side, grabbing hold of Alex's hand, entwining their fingers.

"I don't need to ask why. What ever silly little squabble you had, it doesn't matter. Serv told me you didn't come home and that you had a small disagreement. So get yourself home to your fiancé." Alex's eyes widened in anger.

 

"Silly disagreement. He tried to force himself on me daddy." He scoffed in the back ground.

 

"Seriously Alex? Is this what this is over? You need to satisfy your husband. He shouldn't be expected to have to find it somewhere else." Kelley took a deep breath and looked like she was about to rip in to Alex's father but Alex leapt up and put her hand over Kelley's mouth to make sure she wasn't heard.

 

"Firstly...he isn't my husband. Secondly...he won't be my husband..Thirdly...I can't believe you would allow your daughter to be treated that way." Tears were starting to fall down Alex's cheeks.

 

"Don't be so dramatic. A man and a Woman are to be together...You are to bare children for your husband. You are to care for your husband and take care of his needs."

 

"What about my needs Daddy. Who is going to look after me? Who is going to care for me and look out for my safety. It certainly doesn't seem to be you or Serv. I have bruises on my wrist Daddy. How can you be okay with that?" There was a small silence in the back ground.

 

"Alex....if you take care of his needs, you wouldn't have any bruises. You just don't need to fight him." Alex started to cry openly.

 

"I can't believe you are condoning the rape of your daughter." Her father scoffed again.

 

"Alex." Alex cut him off.

 

"No..No..I can't believe you. You are my father, my family..you are supposed to love and protect your family. But you don't, you never have. All those years ago you were selfish and broke my heart." Her father began to speak louder.

 

"What on earth are you talking about?" 

 

"You never approved of me and Kelley so you took me away. She made me so happy. She loved me."

 

"Don't be stupid. You were never meant to be with her, God wouldn't allow it. I stopped you from making a big mistake and embarrassing your family any more than you already had. Is this what this is about? Your silly little teenage abomination?"

 

"No father. This is about me..me being happy. Me and my family. You took me away from the only person who was my family years ago. You're not my family, and you can't threaten me with losing my family anymore, because you have already taken it from me."

 

"Alex. Stop this. Tell me where you are so I can come and get you and take you home." Alex took a deep breath so she could speak clearly. She locked her eyes with Kelley, a small smile breaking through her tears.

 

"I am home." Alex knew exactly where she was, she reached for her phone and ended the call.

 

Kelley immediately pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Alex finally lost control of her emotions. The tears began to fall faster and heavier. Kelley knew there wasn't anything she could really sayabout Alex's father, she definitely wasn't going to defend him.

 

"SShhh baby I've got you....No one is going to hurt you." Alex began sniffling, holding Kelley so tight.

 

"I can't believe he would let that happen to me. He's my dad. He's supposed to protect me..stand up for me. Instead, he wants me to lay there and let him do whatever he wants with me. He's prepared for me to be hurt just so he looks good in the eyes of his god."

 

"I'm not going to let him hurt you Alex. I'm never letting him take you away.... not again." Kelley let her cry, Alex needed to. It was like she was mourning the loss of her biological family.

 

Alex continued to cry hard for another 10 minutes, the tears finally stopping when her breathing evened out, she had cried herself to sleep.

 

Kelley looked a the time. 6:52am. Alex should be getting up to head to work soon but there was no way she should be there today. Kelley grabbed Alex's phone, took a guess at what her code was to unlock it. Alex still used Kelley's birthday as a password. She did that years ago too. Whenever anything required a security code, she always used those numbers, 020488.

 

She found Allie's contact and dialed her number from Alex's phone. She answered it after 2 rings.

 

"Hey Al, are you okay?"

 

"Allie, it's Kelley."

 

"Kelley? What are you doing calling from Alex's phone?"

 

"I just need...Listen, Al has had a really bad night, and morning already. She isn't coming in today. Is there anyway you could sort that for her? She has only just drifted off to sleep now."

 

"Umm, sure. I can let the principle know and make sure there is someone to cover her. Can you please at least tell me if she is okay?" Kelley didn't want to tell Allie anything, it wasn't her story to tell.

 

"Physically, she is fine. Emotionally, not good....A lot has happened."

 

"Yeah, she seemed really off yesterday but she wouldn't talk to me. Serv was around here last night after he found her stuff gone. He was livid. Bati was getting so pissed, he's Serv's best friend but he just wouldn't let it go. Bati eventually got him to go home and sleep it off."

 

"Yeah Mallory got her stuff out yesterday so she shouldn't need to go back for anything. If she's missing anything, we'll sort it later. I don't want her going back there."

 

"Me neither actually and I don't even know what happened. I'm really glad he doesn't know where you live."

 

"Yeah that's true. Please make sure Bati doesn't tell him where she is?"

 

"Oh don't worry, I actually have't told Bati where you are just in case he lets it slip. By the way, he kept ranting about Alex's dad. I'm assuming he's going to let him know."

 

"He already has Allie."

 

"Fuck.... You know what? It's Thursday, I'll tell them she is out for the rest of the week. "I'll tell them she has some contagious virus. Let her rest." Kelley felt so thankful that Alex had a friend like Allie by her side.

 

"Thanks Allie. I'll get Al to call you later." Alex curled up into Kelley, one hand gripped her shirt and the other took place on her hip, fingertips gripping in. "I better go. I don't want to wake Al up and I was on shift last night so I'm about to fall asleep on you."

 

"Okay. Tell her I love her."

 

Kelley looked at Alex, her face was peaceful yet the gripping made it obvious she wasn't sleeping peacefully. Knowing that neither of them had to be anywhere soon, Kelley got comfortable on her back and pulled Alex up into her side so she could wrap her arm around her. Alex moved easily, even though she was asleep, naturally fitting in to the space.

 

 

 

 

Jessie woke up tangled underneath Mallory. There was no part of being with Mallory that she didn't like. Jessie's family had always struggled with the fact she was gay but being with Mallory the way she has been, has actually made her feel peace towards that. When Mallory looked at her, it was with so much feeling, it made her burn inside. Maybe it was a little too early to say they were in love, but what she felt was nothing like she had ever felt before. The one thing she had noticed lately though is that Mallory had been looking at her the way the she had seen Kelley look at Alex. And it didn't scare her one bit.

 

Jessie needed to use the bathroom but the only way she could do that was to wake Mallory.

 

"Mal...Mal?" Jessie gently moved her fingers over Mallory's naked back but she didn't move. "Baby..wake up." Jessie knew the only way to get her to budge when she was so deeply asleep was to play a little dirty. She moved her fingertips down over her hips and then slip her hand over one of Mal's butt cheeks, gripping it the way she would if they were doing something else. Mal's hip automatically jerked forward, a soft moan leaving her lips. Jessie giggled at the reaction.

 

"Baby wake up..I need to pee." Mal opened one eye to look down at Jessie.

 

"That was cruel." Mal moaned but rolled off to the side.

 

"You wouldn't wake up and I really need to pee." Jessie hurried off to the bathroom after wrapping herself in the robe hanging from the back of the door. She's already made that accident once and it resulted in Kelley falling onto the floor screaming that her eyes had been scarred.

 

"Yeah but now I've woken up horny." Mal mumbled as Jessie walked back into the bedroom. Jessie took the robe off and climbed onto the bed, immediately straddling Mal's hips. Jessie looked down at Mal, raising an eyebrow...and then ground down sharply against her bringing a hiss from Mal's lips. Mal grabbed Jessie's hips tightly and encouraged her to repeat the action, which she did repeatedly.

 

"Fuck, babe....I need you." Mal loved the feel of Jessie's skin against hers and waking up to her in the morning had become one of her favorite things in the world.

 

"What do you want Mal?" Mal just responded with a moan. Jessie shook her head. "No tell me what you want me to do." Mal made another noise like she was really struggling to speak.

 

"Arhh, f..dammit, Jess....I want to be inside you...but want you at the same time." Jessie smirked knowing this was one of Mal's favorite things.

 

She moved up a few inches and leaned her right arm behind her, still close enough to run her fingers through Mal. Without warning, she pushed 2 fingers inside and set a slow pace.

 

"Oh shit..Jess." Mal used one arm to sit her further upright and the other she pushed into Jessie.

 

"Fuck Mal. You feel so good baby." Jessie knew they weren't being quiet but right at the moment she didn't care. She continued to ride Mal's fingers and picked up her own pace inside of Mal.

 

Mal sat up close enough to Jessie to be able to kiss her roughly before moving down her chest leaving small bruises where she was sucking. She wasn't able to think clear enough to actually do anything else and she could feel her stomach start to tighten.

 

Jessie couldn't hold in the noises she was making. Her head was starting to spin and she knew she was close. She tipped her head back taking in a deep breath.

 

"Mal..I'm so close..you?"

 

"God yes...."Mal grabbed the back of Jessie's back and ran her fingernails down just hard enough for Jessie to feel it.

 

"Oh..I can feel you coming...uuh, oh...uh, fu..Mal.."

 

At the same time Mal was leaning in causing great pain to her wrist, gripping onto Jessie and biting her shoulder as she tried to muffle her own noises as the overwhelming feeling hit them both at exactly the same time. They both froze, their orgasms ripping through their bodies. Jessie removed her hand from Mal and hugged Mal tightly, not wanting to lose her anchor to the earth.

 

Mal very carefully rolled them onto their sides, moving her hand as she went, moving onto her back and puling Jessie in close to her chest.

 

"Why does it seem like that gets better every time?" Mal whispered. Jessie looked up from her spot on Mal's chest and smiled gently.

 

"Because what we feel is getting stronger. Not just the passion...but in here." Jessie tapped her fingers that were sitting over the breast where Mal's heart is. "I'm falling so hard for you Mallory...but I don't want to stop." Mal leaned down for a sweet kiss with Jessie.

 

"I'm right there with you babe." A noise outside the bedroom door broke their moment. "Well I can only guess whoever that is heard everything." Mal looked only slightly guilty but jessie just shrugged and let her head rest in the crook of Mal's neck.

 

Then came a bang on the door. "I'm doing a coffee run if either of you are wanting something?" Kelley's tired voice came from the other side. Jessie giggled nervously. "Don't pretend you are asleep. Even Ash heard that next door. I feel like I need a cold shower right now." Mal rolled her eyes at the comment but could hear the tiredness in Kelley's voice.

 

"2 coffee's and bagels please." Mal yelled back to Kelley. As much as she loved where she was laying, Mal kissed Jessie on the head quickly and moved out from under her, grabbing the robe that was at the door. Once she was covered, Mal slipped out the door to check on Kelley.

 

"Hey bud, you okay?" Kelley looked at Mal with a smirk but Mal could see right through it and just kept looking her in the eyes. Kelley eventually gave in and looked at the ground and shrugged.

 

"I want to fucking kill him. I want to tear each finger off and then shove them up his fucking ass." Kelley looked back at Mal with fire in her eyes. Mal nodded, understanding that Alex had spoken to her. "He hurt her Mal...and her Dad....I can't even."

 

"Listen, why don't you go get the coffee's while we shower so we can talk properly?" Kelley nodded slowly before adding.

 

"Yeah I don't want you to touch anything out here right now. I know exactly where your hands have been." Mal couldn't help but let out a solid laugh but she couldn't deny it so she just shrugged.

 

"What time did Alex leave?" Kelley shook her head.

 

"I called Allie and got someone to cover for the rest of the week. She is still asleep. Alex isn't in a good place right now. I don't want her going anywhere." Mal just looked at Kelley understanding but also a little unsure. So Kelley explained. "Her dad called this morning. He made it very clear what he expects from her. I think she needs to have serious chat with you." Mal was frowning, her head cocked on the side, so Kelley continued. "He took her away once Mal...and he made it very clear that he expects her to spend the rest of her life with her legs open waiting for her husband to come home from work. I'm not going to let that happen."

 

Mal understood what Kelley needed from her. "Okay bud, go get those coffees and once Alex is up, we can talk."

 

Kelley nodded and slipped out the front door with her wallet and Mal returned to the bedroom.

 

"Everything okay babe?" Jessie looked like an Angel in her bed but she knew their peaceful day was about to change.

 

"Yeah, Alex is still here. Kelley needs Officer Mallory this morning so I need to have a shower. Do you want to come with?" Mal raised an eyebrow, Jessie knew what she was offering.

 

"Alright stud...as much as I would love that, I think we need to keep at least 2 inches between us at all times so we can have an effective shower and be ready for when Kelley gets back." Mal pouted. "Don't worry, I will make it up to you later...I bought you something?" That certainly peaked Mal's interest. "But I think it's best we wait until we are in this place alone...or maybe....come way with me next weekend?"

 

"Really?"

 

"Yeah really. Let me take you away, you're not working right?" Mal shook her head.

 

"Good, then it's a plan. We can leave after our shifts on Friday. Now go for a shower, I will be right behind you."

 

 

 

Kelley was standing in front of a flower stand...she was biting her lip hard. That kiss she shared with Alex, although she was tired as hell, it was magical. It felt exactly like it was supposed to. She knew Alex was going to be a little upset for a while given that she had just left Serv and with everything that had happened, but she fully intended to start wooing her. Technically there were no boundaries anymore and she didn't think Alex would have kissed her if she didn't want to. After all, it wasn't Kelley that kissed her.

 

An old lady walked over and smiled, "Can I help you with something dear? You look....uncertain?"

 

That shook Kelley out of her thoughts. "Actually, uncertainty is the last thing on my mind. I want to buy a beautiful woman some flowers." Kelley looked at her options, the lady beside her smiling.

 

"Well, I guess I should ask, do you love this beautiful woman?" Kelley smiled happily, scrunching up her nose a little.

 

"She is the love of my life." The woman laughed and clapped.

 

"Beautiful...It's so nice to hear people still love each other these days. I was starting the think my wife and I were part of a dying breed. Now which flowers do you think dear?" Kelley cocked her head to the side and pointed the Tulips.

 

"How long have you been with your wife?" Kelley got her wallet out to pay for the flowers while the lady walked to her counter to wrap the stems up.

 

"I've been with Mary for 36 years." Kelley's eye's bulged but a big smile on her face.

 

"Wow, you must have been through some pretty difficult stuff in all that time?" The lady nodded, her eyes clearly thinking back to a time in her life.

 

"So many people will always put their own opinions forward about what you should do. Or who you should be with. Back when we were younger, things were very different. It was dangerous in a different kind of way. Our families had certain expectations and we lost a lot of people in our lives because we weren't willing to compromise on us being together." The lady looked at Kelley sincerely, not releasing her eye contact in any way. "I was willing to lose everything if it meant I could just be with her."

 

"Did you? Lose everything I mean?" The flower shop lady just shook her head, a smile on her face.

 

"I didn't lose everything..I have her...My Mary was my everything...and still is." The lady handed over the flowers to Kelley. "If life was easy, we wouldn't appreciate what we have."

 

Kelley smiled, "Yeah but sometimes it would be nice if life stopped kicking you in the ass just for a day."

 

"True, but I'm sure that beautiful lady of yours makes things feel better." Kelley nodded with a big smile.

 

"In every way....Thank you...and thank you for sharing your story with me." The lady waved and turned away to another person standing at her shop and Kelley backed away to get the coffees, with flowers in hand. She knew she wanted to make Alex feel like she was the most beautiful and important thing in her life, because really, she always had been. And Kelley would be waiting for whenever Alex was ready.

 

 

 

 

Kelley walked back into the apartment placing the coffee and bagels on the table, as she walked past Jessie who was sitting on the couch, they gave each other a little fist bump. Kelley was getting used to having the other girl around and really enjoyed working with her as well. She was glad that Mal had been the one to drop by the firehouse that day.

Kelley snuck back in to her room, Alex was still wrapped up in blankets and sheets. Kelley placed the flowers on the table beside her bed and crawled back up to lay beside Alex, moving the hair across her face to sit behind her ear. The touch of her finger tips bought a small smile to Alex's face, her eyes opening slowly.

 

"Hey beautiful." Kelley looked deeply into Alex's eyes causing Alex to blush a little.

 

"Hey Kel. What time is it?" Alex went to turn around and reach for her phone but Kelley put a hand on her hip to bring her back towards her.

 

"Don't worry about that. Allie has gotten you covered for the rest of the week so you don't have to worry about work." Alex looked a little confused.

 

"How did you manage that?"

 

"You still use my birthday as your code. I called Allie from your phone." Alex blushed again. "I bought coffee and bagels. Mal and Jessie needed sustenance after there activities this morning..be thankful you were asleep...." Alex giggled, her own skin starting to feel hot from Kelley's hand sitting on the bare skin of her hip. "I also thought you would need a good coffee to get you going. I was hoping you would be happy to talk about what happened? I think we need to work out a few things and make sure you are safe." Alex began to bite her lip.

 

"You mean about my dad?" Kelley shrugged.

 

"Everything. Your Dad, Serv. Both of them want you to go home and I just want to make sure they aren't allowed to hurt you." Alex looked down at the bed sheets, picking at a thread on the edge.Kelley reached behind her and bought the Tulips to Alex. "I wanted you to wake up to something beautiful." Kelley's stomach knotted at the smile on Alex's face.

 

"My god Kelley, they are absolutely gorgeous..and smell amazing." Alex took a deep breathing, taking in the fresh sweet smell. "But I did already by the way." Alex began to smirk, still picking at the lose thread.

 

"Did what?" She looked at Alex confused.

 

"Wake up to something beautiful..." Alex bought her eyes back up to meet Kelley's, "You're absolutely beautiful...gorgeous even..and you've only gotten more so as you got older." Kelley couldn't think, she felt like she needed to shake her head to restart her brain.

 

"Wow, you're extremely smooth. When did you get so mcc game?" Kelley smirked at Alex. Alex's eyes flicked down to Kelley's lips for a good 5 seconds and then back up to meet Kelley. "Hey...." Kelley hooked her index finger under Alex's jaw keeping her head even with her own. "We have all the time in the world now okay...no scary timelines...I'm not pressuring you into anything." Alex smiled, taking in all of Kelleys words, nodding a little. Kelley leant forward and put the softest of kisses onto Alex's lips. "Now c'mon, lets get up and have that coffee." Kelley scurried off the bed and pulled back the sheets off Alex.

 

"Arrgh, don't be an asshole."

 

 

Mal stood outside the bedroom and could hear the giggles coming from Alex and Kelley. She knew they would have to sort a lot out but they would end up together again. Jessie stepped in between Mal's feet and pulled her in for a tight hug, inhaling Mal's smell from the skin on her neck. Mal wrapped her arms around the woman in front of her, realizing that her world had been turned upside down and she would move heaven and earth for that woman.

 

And she would.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. August has been a bitch. Anyway, thanks for the kudos and the comments. I hope you keep reading.
> 
> Triggers in this chapter: Attempted assault at the begging of the chapter so skip if you need.

Alex 15

Kelly 15 - Almost 16

 

 

" _All I'm saying Alex is that you don't need to wear that to be beautiful." Kelley was watching Alex put on makeup while she was getting ready for her date. Alex looked back at Kelley through the mirror, her best friend wasn't very good at hiding her jealousy at times...not that they had spoken about that yet._

 

_"Well, that's sweet of you to say Kel. You've always been my biggest fan." Kelley rolled her eyes and stepped out of the bathroom back into Alex's room._

 

_"You don't even know this guy. Your dad doesn't even know him..Geez he could be a serial killer." Alex stood back and checked over her cheeks making sure her makeup was even._

 

_"Well, if he is one, I guess you get the rest of that bag of candy I bought the other day." Kelley looked at her with a well practiced 15 year old scowl._

 

_"For fucks sake Alex..you're 15. Why is your dad pimping you out already?" Alex walked up so her face was in Kelley's personal space. The blush on Kelley's face next didn't go unnoticed._

 

_"You're cute when you're jealous." Kel ducked her head and went to step away but Alex grabbed her by the hem of her shirt and pulled her back to stand closer than even before."Kel...you know I would prefer to be spending my Friday night with you snuggled up on the couch at your house watching a movie." Alex closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she hooked one of her arms around Kelley's neck bringing her in for a hug, Kelley slowly placed her hands on Alex's hips. Alex rested her cheek against Kelley's so she could breath in the scent of Kelley's skin. She could feel her hart rate picking up and her skin start to feel hot touching Kelley's "But...I don't have that choice..please don't make this any harder for me."_

 

_Kelley chewed the inside of her cheek trying to keep her breathing calm. She was getting lost in the smell of Alex's hair and the softness of her skin. She nodded silently in defeat and took a step back, begrudgingly letting go of Alex's hips._

 

_"Okay Al, I'm gonna go home and let you get ready then. I'll see you tomorrow?" Alex watched as Kelley began to back out of her bedroom door._

 

_"Of course." Alex stood there as she watched her best friend walk out of her room. She let out a deep breath and straightened out her dress. She knew Kelley was upset with her going on this date and Alex really really didn't want to go. If she had the choice, she really would be at Kelley's house, eating a pizza, drinking soda and watching a silly romance movie because Kelley hated to watch them._

 

_She also knew she would prefer to be going on this date with Kelley. Alex hadn't figured out how to tell her best friend how she felt about her yet. It was a scary thought to actually stand there and say "Hey, I like you. All I want to do is hold your hand..and touch your hair...and feel your skin.." The reality of it was that she would never be able to act on it because they could never really be anything._

 

_But for the love of God did she want to touch Kelley's skin._

 

_A car pulled up outside her house and a boy in a nice jacket walked up to her door. She could hear her father talking to him at the door. "Alex, come down here. Your date is ready." Alex blew her cheeks out with her breath trying to calm herself down but psych herself up at the same time._

 

_"Coming Daddy." She walked calmly down the stairs and saw a rather handsome looking boy waiting patiently beside her father._

 

_"Alex, this is Brian that I told you about. His family has just moved to town and I met his father the other night outside of confession." Alex smiled sweetly trying to appease her father. Technically she just had to go on the date. There was no guarantee that it would be a success. "Brian, her curfew tonight is 10pm." Her father looked at Alex. "Alex, be a good girl."_

 

_"Yes daddy." Brian stepped aside and made room for Alex to step out towards his car._

 

_Brian seemed like a nice guy. He spoke about how he loved his football and that even though he just moved to town he expected that he would be starting QB in no time. He talked about his car and what college he would be going to. At no time was there a question about if he would get the starting role or if he would get in to the college he wanted. He also only spoke about Brian. Alex could quickly see that Brian was all about Brian._

 

_After their burgers and some time at the bowling alley, Brian was taking Alex home. He had half an hour to spare and she just figured he was wanting to leave plenty of time to be safe. After a few minutes into the drive back though, she realized they had taken another turn off to an area she wasn't really familiar with and before long they were down an empty street with a factory that was closed for the night._

 

_"What are we doing down here Brian?" He pulled up to the Kerb silently and then turned off the engine._

 

_He unbuckled his belt and shuffled a bit on his seat to look at Alex. "Well I thought we could spend a little bit of time getting to know each other more." He rested his elbow up on Alex's chair so his hand rested on his cheek._

 

_"Well I don't know Brian, you have had a good couple of hours to get to know me already." He smirked and then gently put his hand on Alex's knee, the unexpected contact made her jump in surprise a little._

 

_"Hey it's okay, you'll like this." He slowly started to run his finger tips up her thigh. Alex was gripping the side of her chair, knuckles white. She didn't know how they suddenly got in this situation but she wanted to quickly get out of it._

 

_"I don't think we should probably do this Brian. We don't have lot of time to get home and my father is pretty strict when it comes to my curfew." Brian chuckled a little but his fingers changed position to be his palm lying flat on her thigh, but still moving higher._

 

_"It's okay, I'm sure Daddio will be really happy when his little girl comes home with a big smile on her face." Brian then moved his hand to her cheek, rubbing his fingers over the skin a little and then nudged her head to open up his access to her neck. He started nuzzling around her neck with his nose which she found quite odd. Alex looked out the window hoping to see some sort of activity out there. She could feel his hand start to trail down her chest until he got to her breast which he stopped at and squeezed a few times. This caused her to whimper a little which he mistakenly took as a good thing. "I told you you would like it."_

 

_Brian's hand went down to her thigh, just to sit under her dress. He puled his head back up so he could look at her._

 

_"Please don't do this Brian." Alex was looking at him pleading him to stop. Brian however kept going, a twinkle in his eyes which was pure cockiness. "Please stop?" Alex said more firmly this time, "My father won't like it if you hurt me."_

 

_"Well Alex, I'm pretty sure I heard him tell you to be a good girl. So Alex...how about you be a good girl....and spread your legs a little bit?" Alex shook her head, determined to at least make this hard for him. He grabbed her hand closest to him and placed it on top of his pants. She could feel him underneath his pants, he moved her hand around and pressed her palm down causing him to moan a little. "See, next time we go out I'll make sure I leave enough time for us to get to know each other better. You have really soft hands and I bet I could teach you to give really good hand jobs." Alex managed to pull her hand out of his grip and he quickly resumed where his hand was before on her thigh. He moved up a little higher, he moaned at the heat he could feel._

 

_"I thought you were raised in a god fearing home?" Brian just laughed and closed the distance to Alex's underwear. His fingers gently brushed against the fabric._

 

_"Even a good Christian boy has needs Alex..and believe it or not, I've met plenty of good Christian girls that feel the same way." His hand moved a little higher towards the top of her underwear and just as he got there, lights went off behind him startling them both. He quickly pulled his hand back and straightened himself up._

 

_A person carrying a torch came up to the window and tapped on the glass indicating that Brian should wind it down. A female police officer moved to look in the window. "Care to explain what you two are doing here close to 10pm in the dark?"_

 

_"Oh I was just showing my friend here the Factory that my dad works in. I hope to get a job there in the summer." The officer raised her eyebrow, no way was she believing any of it._

 

_"Actually Officer, my curfew is at 10pm and Brian here was talking me he has had problems recently with his engine. Would you mind dropping me home just to make sure I can get there in time please?" Alex didn't even give the officer any time to reposed she was already getting out fo the car._

 

_"Sure thing," She looked back at Brian, and glanced over to Alex again, then back at Brian. "Do you need any assistance?" He shook his head quickly. "I hope we don't run into each other again..." She waved her torch in Alex's direction, "And definitely not with her. You understand?" Brian took a deep breath and sighed. Now he was going to have to come up with a good excuse to his parent as to why he wouldn't see Alex again._

 

_"I understand completely officer." The police officer walked back to her patrol car letting Alex in the passenger side. When Alex sat in that car the realization of what could have happened hit her and she began to cry._

 

_"Do you need to tell me anything?" Alex looked over and she saw these gentle blue eyes looking at her._

 

_She shook her head quickly, "No, I'm okay."_

 

 

**_Present_ **

 

Alex was sitting at an unknown restaurant having dinner with Allie. They had chosen somewhere they had never gone before so no one they knew had a chance of finding them.

 

"Why did you put up with it for so long Al?" Allie had just taken a large sip of her wine. She was struggling to listen to how Alex was raised under the church rule but somehow like it was the 1950's.

 

"Allie, Serv had never given me any indication that he thought like he did. I mean..Kelley asked me ages ago if he treated me okay and if he ever hurt me and I told her he was a nice guy and he would never hurt me, or force himself on to me. This completely took me by surprise." Alex finished off her glass of wine too, eagerly pouring refills for them both. "My father has always been this way though but he's my father, what am I supposed to do?"

 

Allie rubbed her temple like it was giving her a headache. "It just makes me sick to think they treated you like this, like you didn't deserve any better. He used his Faith and the lord inappropriately." Alex looked off into nothing biting her lip while she listened.

 

"Luckily I met someone when I was young who made sure I knew I was good enough." Alex smiled softly thinking about all the times that Kelley made sure she told her how beautiful she was. Not only beautiful, Kelley always told her how smart she was and let her know that she deserved more. 

 

Allie looked at Alex with a weak smirk but a smirk none the less. "What is gonna happen there?"

 

"Hmm?" Alex frowned Alex, not completely understanding the question.

 

"Oh C'mon Al, as soon as you saw Kelley you wanted to be with her again. Now things are over with Serv, what's stopping you?" Alex smiled thinking about being with Kelley again. It had only been 2 days since she had left her home with Serv. She hadn't actually spoken to him properly yet but knew she needed to.

 

"Kelley and I aren't in a hurry, things will happen naturally with her. First, I need to finalize things with Serv. I need to talk to him face to face but I don't want to go by myself. Will you go with me?" Allie seemed surprised by the request.

 

"You don't want Kel with you?" Alex shook her head.

 

"No, I don't want him to know what she looks like or anything about her at the moment. Also, she could potentially rip his balls off so probably best to keep them as far apart as possible." Allie laughed.

 

"Yeah, you're probably right about that. Of course I will come with you. Have you made a time to meet him yet?" Alex shook her head. "How about you test him now and see if he is good for tomorrow morning. Then we can have lunch and drink more wine afterwards, personally I think we will both need it."

 

Alex grabbed her phone, looked at the string of messages unanswered to Serv. Some were pissed off comments, some were him begging her to come back. Without reading them anymore, she sent off a quick message asking him to meet her. His response came quickly, telling her to come by the house in the morning. There was no way she was going to meet him at the house though.

 

"Where do you think we should meet?" Allie chewed her lip.

 

"Somewhere very public I think. Maybe keep away from anywhere near Kelley's place though. How about Harry's? It opens early and it's a place that both you and Kelley go to so it's not like you will take him to a new place of hers. I think you will be safe there." Alex nodded without hesitation. She did feel very safe there, it just had that vibe. Answering Serv, she then put the phone away not wanting him to take up anymore of her night.

 

 

 

 

 

"So what's Al up to tonight?" Jessie was spotting Kelley in their weight room just as they were finishing off their heavy set before they showered and cooked dinner.

 

"She was going go and have dinner with Allie. They haven't seen each other since everything went down and I think it would be good for them to talk. Serv is best friends with Allie's husband so I think it's important for her to fully understand everything so he doesn't try and manipulate their thinking."

 

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Is she going to talk to him?" Kelley rolled her eyes, grunted and finished pushing out her last lift before sitting down the weights and sitting up on the weight bench.

 

"God I hope not...but...my history with Alex let's me know she is a very determined woman so I'm pretty sure she will. Will she tell me when? Probably not." Kelley chuckled a little as she walked towards the showers.

 

"Why do you say that?"

 

"Alex just always kept me on my toes. But I know there are things she wouldn't tell me to protect me...and also to stop me from losing my shit." Kelley stepped into the shower stall half naked as she struggled to take off her pants mid stride. Kelley was never one to hide her body and Jessie had to admit, it was a damn fine body. Jessie grabbed her towel and went to her own shower stall before stripping off.

 

"What's going to happen with you two now?"

 

"Well,obviously I want to be with Alex. She knows that too. I'm not hiding it from anyone. I think I just have to be patient and wait for her to be ready."

 

"Is this the longest you have gone without an orgasm?" Kelley laughed hard.

 

"My god, I think I have been way to generous to my body in the past. Now I've gone cold turkey, it's like every time I see a gorgeous woman I want to explode."

 

"Has your hand become your best friend?" Jessie was laughing now, she couldn't help it. She hadexperienced some of Kelley's mood swings lately and had put it down to sexual frustration.

 

"Dude, you and Mal are just killing me. All I can hear is moaning and fucking, it's like I have a porno being filmed in my apartment. It is doing nothing to help keep myself in check." Jessie was still laughing, she knew knew they had a lot of sex and also just how loud they could be.

 

"I'm not going to apologize for that Kelley, and I'm definitely not going to change it, the sex is just too good."

 

"I never knew Mal had it in her, worst pay back ever."

 

 

**Truck 19, Rescue 24, please respond to warehouse fire**

 

"You're fucking kidding me??" Kelley and Mal both ran out of the showers, hair dripping, towel half hanging off. They needed to get dressed and in the truck in the same amount of time as normal, even though they were wet.

 

Somehow only 30 seconds longer than normal, both of the women jumped into the truck while trying to tame their long hair.

 

"Did you 2 take a shower together?" Dom was looking at them skeptically, still with a smirk on his face.

 

"Yes Dom, I had Jessie take me up against a wall." Kelley responded while she was still trying to get her boots on. She looked up at the silence she received in the truck. Jessie was also sitting there with her mouth open surprised.

 

"What?", Kelley shrugged at Jessie. "Oh yeah..I'm the top..it just wasn't believable was it?" Jessie smirked and looked straight at Kelley.

 

"Do you really want to know that answer?" Kelley took a second to think about it before rolling her eyes in response when she realized what Jessie was referring to.

 

Pulling up to the warehouse fire, once again, it was already well lit. It was burning very hot and was right beside a few other buildings. This time the warehouse wasn't abandoned, it was still a successful business.

 

"He's changing his targets." Dom stated rather than asked.

 

"You think it's the same?" Muscles asked. Dom shrugged.

 

"We won't find out until the the investigation is done but I get a feeling that it is. Alright lets get these other buildings protected before it spreads."

 

"Lieutenant, we need your Rescue." One of the other truck lieutenant's ran over and spoke to Dom before waving the Rescue Truck over. As usual, before Ashlyn left with her crew she came over and fist bumped Kelley.

 

"Alright guys, we are looking after these buildings while rescue is being taken over to make sure that no one was inside working. Once it's cleared, their ladder will join us."

 

Kelley's crew went about checking the buildings beside the warehouse, the doors looked secured so no one had broken in and none of the flames had jumped over yet. They went about wetting down the buildings just in case.

 

"Kel, can you hear me?" Ashlyn came through on the radio, crackly but enough to hear.

 

"I got you Ash." Kelley continued hosing down the side of the building while she listened to Ashlyn.

 

"It's got to be the same guy. Where are you?"

 

"We are at the front left of the building."

 

"Fuck, Dom...Move them back. Get out of there." As the instruction came from Ashlyn, the Chief began yelling at Dom from behind.

 

"What the fuck is going on Ashlyn? Are you okay?" Dom grabbed Kelley's sleeve and pulled her back.

 

"I don't know if you can see it but there is a few wires leading out from the wall, on my end here is an explosive. It's set to a trip wire. I missed it by like an inch. You need to move fast. We are evacuating the building but I don't know if there are any other wires to set it.......fuck." Kelley could hear the terror in Ashlyn's voice.

 

"Ash, what's going on?"

 

"Kelley, you need to get out of there."

 

"Ashlyn?" Kelley was feeling frantic by this stage.

 

"Kelley..please...." Kelley began to run, all the other firefighters were running as far from the building as possible. She could feel her boots weigh her down and she didn't know how far away she needed to run but she just kept running.

 

 

 

 

Alex was driving back to Kelley's after dinner with Allie. She was pretty good right then. She felt no guilt about leaving Serv. She had Kelley back in her life and she knew they would naturally find their way back to each other. Flipping between the music stations, one of the stations started covering a news event that caught Alex's attention.

 

_"About an hour ago the building exploded with at least five firefighters still inside. At this time, their condition is unknown but it has been mentioned that at least two of them are in a critical condition. In total, 8 firefighters have been injured. They are said to be from two local firehouses."_

 

Alex felt like al the air had been sucked out of her chest.

 

" _This is the fifth warehouse fire that can be linked back to the same arsonist who now seems to be changing his style of attack."_

 

Alex reached for her phone and struggled to make her fingers hit the right contact name. Touching Kelley's name, Alex waited while the phone rang, but eventually going to Kelley's voicemail.

 

_"The firefighters have been taken to Piedmont Hospital. We'll update you with more on their status once we have received an update."_

 

Alex immediately turned the next corner and drove back in the direction of the hospital. She knew that if Kelley wasn't one of the injured, she would still be there with her work family.

 

She began to feel sick while she was driving. The fear taking over her body was still letting her drive but she couldn't hold back the tears. Although she didn't know if Kelley was one of the fire fighters injured, the thought of her being hurt....or being taken away from her again just when she had her back was unbearable.

 

It didn't take Alex too long to pull into the hospital car park and she couldn't really say whether she parked in the right zone. A ticket was the least thing she cared about right then. Running in through the emergency department doors, she saw a stream of firefighters still in their fire pants and boots. Cheeks with dirty marks all over them walked around everywhere.

 

Standing on a chair so she could see over the many heads in the room, she finally saw a body she recognized. Mallory was in uniform holding Ali while she sobbed into her shoulder. Mallory had her head buried in Ali's shoulder just the same, holding her tight. Alex jumped down off the chair, she moved to squeeze through the crowd when she felt a hand grab her shoulder.

 

"Jessie? Is she okay?" Jessie stood there biting her cheek, her face and hands filthy.

 

"I don't know."

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

"Jessie? Is she okay?" Jessie stood there biting her cheek, her face and hands filthy.

 

"I don't know."

 

Alex grabbed Jessie and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "What happened?" Alex could feel Jessie take a deep breathe, probably trying to calm herself down to talk.

 

"There was an explosion and a few were still inside. It was basically a set up." Jessie pulled herself out from Alex's hug to look her in the eye. "Kelley was still running away from the building when it exploded. She was hit with the force...and thrown against a truck." Alex felt her chest pull tight, fear shooting through her body.

 

"How bad is she?" Jessie tried to hold back the tears but it turned it into loud sobs instead.

 

"I don't know...They haven't come and and spoken to us yet." Jessie looked Alex in the eye when she said the next part. "It looks bad Alex. She flew through the air like a rag doll. She was unconscious when they put her in the ambulance." Alex stepped back and took another deep breath.

 

"Is Ash here too?" Alex asked remembering that she saw Ali before with Mal. Jessie nodded quickly and spoke quietly.

 

"She was one of those still inside. The building collapsed while they were trying to get out. I could hear her over the radio talking to Kelley before it happened".

 

"Does Mal know you're okay yet?" Jessie shook her head again.

 

"I haven't spoken to her yet. I'm sure she knows the names of everyone they bought in though." Alex grabbed hold of Jessie hand and pulled her through the crowd. When Mallory came in to view, Alex could see that Ali was now talking to someone on the phone, trying to talk through her tears, while Mal stood beside her rubbing her back gently with her head leaning on Ali's shoulder.

 

Mallory saw Alex first, her eyes holding Alex's as she started to emerge from the crowd. The moment Mal saw Jessie, she leapt forward and pulled Jessie into a hug, her head tucked tightly into her neck. Mal extracted herself from Jessie's arms reluctantly just so she could look over her girlfriends body to make sure she really wasn't injured.

 

"Baby are you hurt?" Jessie shook her head and tucked herself back into Mallory's neck.

 

"No, I was far enough away." Jessie mumbled into Mal's neck. "Has Ali heard anything yet?" Mal kept Jessie tight against her but angled around so she could see both Alex and Ali. Mal pulled away one of her arms that was wrapped around Jessie and squeezed Alex's hand, pulling her in for a hug at the same time. Mal kissed the side of Alex's head while Alex had her head nudged into Mal's shoulder.

 

"The Doctors haven't come out here yet, so we don't know anything. Ali is just talking to Ash's brother right now, I expect them to fly in in the morning." Alex could hear Ali say goodbye so she pulled her self away from the hug and turned to her. As soon as she made eye contact with Ali, Ali broke down sobbing again. Alex reached for Ali's hands and pulled her in for a hug. Although they were still only getting to know each other, they had something very similar in common right now.

 

"They are going to be okay..Our girls are going to fine." Ali shook her head into Alex's shoulder.

 

"I can't lose her Alex....s-she's.. she's my everything." Alex rubbed Ali's back while making soothing noises in her ear.

 

"She's tough Ali..Ash is one tough chick. And she would move heaven and earth itself to come back to you. You and Ash have this eternal love....your story isn't over yet."

 

"Neither is yours." Ali mumbled back to Alex. "Kelley just got you back....She doesn't plan to ever let you go." Alex smiled, pulling away form Ali, nodding slowly.

 

"I don't plan on letting her go either." Alex felt good saying it to Kelley's friends. She knew she wasn't losing Kelley again. Not if she could help it anyway.

 

"Is Ash's family coming?" Mal was still holding onto Jessie although Jessie wasn't buried into her neck so deeply and just resting against Mal's chest.

 

"Yeah, Chris said they would take the first flight out in the morning."

 

"Hopefully we'll have some news by then. Hey look there's Dom." Mal pointed out the firefighter who was looking very solemn. Dom walked over and pulled Ali into a hug.

 

"Any news Dom?" He shook his head.

 

"They are being pretty tight lipped at the moment. The nurse has already told me we are going to have issues getting any updates on people that don't have family in the room or have someone here down on as their next of kin."

 

"Well, Ali has Ash covered." Mal looked over to Ali. She knew that Ash had Ali down as her next of kin pretty much 3 weeks into their relationship. They u-hauled pretty hard.

Mal looked over to Alex who had quite a concerned look on her face.Kelley had always been a difficult one when sharing things about her self, no one had actually met her family because she would always visit them. Dom looked over to Alex knowing she was desperate to find out what condition Kelley was in.

 

"Don't worry, the chief has already called Kel's family. Apparently her parents are out of the country but her sister is on the way." Alex's eyes blew wide.

 

"Erin's coming?" They all turned to look at Alex.

 

"Yeah, she is...I forgot you would know her family. What she like?" Alex smiled softly at the thought of Kelley's sister.

 

"Well obviously it's been years since I've seen her but she was always one of 2 people who could put Kelley in her place and actually have her listen to them." They laughed at that answer so Dom asked.

 

"Who was the other person?" Alex smiled.

 

"Me." Ali rubbed Alex's back and pulled her in for another hug but pulled back quickly when she saw a Doctor enter the room.

 

"Julie...Please, what's going on?" Ali asked friend and colleague who was a general surgeon.

 

"Hey Ali...well, Ash is still in surgery, I have handed her over to the Orthopedic specialist at the moment. He's making sure her pelvis is set properly." Julie took a deep breath. "She's going to be in ICU afterwards, she had a lot of internal bleeding but I've managed to control the bleeding. She also had a punctured lung and a broken pelvis. I mean considering the blast, it seems she was pretty lucky but the impact of hitting the wall and then the collapse of the building...well it all just added up in the end." Ali sobbed, Mal moved over to wrap her up in her arms again. Dom rubbed his hands down over his face in frustration and concern.

 

"Can you tell us anything else on the others Doc...on Kelley?" Julie looked skeptically, purely as she knew she couldn't say anything that would reveal too much.

 

"The other female is still in surgery..sorry that's all I can tell you. Really, apart from the fact it needs to be her next of kin that we update, at the moment, there isn't much to tell. I'm going to head back in," She looked at Ali, "I just wanted to tell you what I could. We'll come out and let you know when they have her out of surgery." Julie reached out a squeezed Ali's hand before offering the others a small smile and walking back through the hospital doors.

 

"See Al, she's going to be fine. Christmas might be little quiet this year but she's going to be okay." Mal led Ali over to some chairs that were vacant, people slowly leaving to go and be with their families now a few updates had come through. Also to help clear out the emergency room.

 

Alex walked over to another chair and sat down, her head resting in her hands. Jessie sat beside her, not really knowing what to do but wanting to show her support by being there.

 

2 hours later and Julie came back out to let Ali know that Ash was making her way into ICU and she would be able to go and see her soon. She'd still be unconscious for a fair while but just so Ali could see for herself that she would be okay. Julie had actually taken Ali over to the side of the room and whispered to her so no one could hear anything else, Ali nodding and taking in whatever she was saying. Alex was watching her carefully and saw that Julie glanced over every now and then. Julie walked away after rubbing Ali's arm gently and looking at Alex once more.

 

"Ali, what's going on?" Alex felt like Julie knew something about Kelley and somehow knew that Alex really wanted to know.

 

"Alex, they've had some complications...Kelley is still in surgery. Apparently they have had a lot of troubles trying to control a bleed. Julez couldn't tell me anything other than that but said she wanted to give us something."

 

Mal sat next to Alex, all of them looking extremely tired but not going anywhere until they heard about Kelley.

 

"Are you doing okay?" Mal grabbed Alex's hand and squeezing it gently.

 

"I just need to know she is okay.....My brain won't calm down. I just keep thinking that I had her so close to me...and we never got the chance to be together again. We were so close."

 

"Alex, you will have that chance..I just know it. Kelley is going to fight like hell to be here with you again."

 

"I was so close. If only I had finished it with Serv sooner. I knew I didn't love him. Now I don't even like him..."Alex threw her head back and moaned. "Damn it..I'm supposed to be seeing him the morning?"

 

"You are?" Mal looked a little concerned at that thought.

 

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure he knew it was over but I wanted to see him in person to do that so there can be absolutely no chance that he could misunderstand anything."

 

"I don't like this. I know for sure that Kel would hate this." Alex nodded knowingly.

 

"Yeah, that's why I wasn't going to tell her until afterwards. I knew she would want to come along and rip his balls off but I didn't want him to know anything about her." Mal's face took a down turn.

 

"Oh no...not because I'm embarrassed about her or anything. I want to protect her from doing anything stupid,...and also to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. I mean, my father has seen her before but I doubt he really remembers her face well enough to pick her out from a crowd."

 

"You think they would try and hurt her?" Mal seemed little shocked that they would try it.

 

"Honestly, I wouldn't put anything past my father. I am the disgraceful daughter after all."

 

"I want to come with you." Mal stood up and put her hands on her hips.

 

"You don't need to do that Mal."

 

"No, I do. Kelley would never forgive me if I didn't go with you, even just to watch from somewhere he can't see me. Honestly, I wouldn't forgive myself either. Please, let me go with you?" Alex bit her lip, she knew fully how Kelley would react if she knew that Alex was in the vicinity of Serv or her father.

 

"Okay, I guess having you there would be a good back up..thank you." Mal nodded seemingly happy with herself for convincing Alex to let her go.

 

Alex heard someone rush in through the Hospital Doors and stood asking questions at the desk, the Nurse nodding and walking away. Alex stood up.

 

"Erin?" The woman looked over, her eyes slowly becoming wide with recognition.

 

"Alex Morgan? Is that really you?" Alex smiled a tired smile and nodded. Erin walked over, still looking at Alex in shock.

 

"What are you doing here? What....Kelley didn't tell me......" Alex wasn't too surprised by that..really, what did Kelley have to tell.

 

"Yeah..Kel and I crossed paths not too long ago..purely by chance.." Erin smiled.

 

"Fate you mean?" Erin pulled Alex in for a tight hug. "My god..she must have been so happy to see you. I can't believe it."

 

"Miss O'Hara?" A Doctor that Alex hadn't seen before walked up to Erin.

 

"Yes that's me. How is my sister?" The Doctor looked round and then back to Erin again.

 

"Would I be able to talk to you in private?" Erin looked around.

 

"Umm, sure." Erin walked with the Doctor and listened closely to what he had to say, her face not giving away to much to anyone near by.

 

Alex sat quietly next to her friends who were still waiting patiently to hear how their friend was. Jessie was close to sleep on Mal's lap, the events of the night catching up on her.

 

Erin put her hands around the back of her neck, linking them together and dropped her head, Alex felt an intense tightness in her chest as she waited for Erin to walk back over.

 

The Doctor walked away and back through the doors, Erin walked back over to the group who were waiting, pretty much holding their breath until she spoke.

 

"Kelley is heading to ICU now. Umm, apparently she has swelling in the brain, so until that reduces and she wakes up, they don't know how bad it could be. She has a few broken ribs handsome muscle tears in her shoulder but the internal bleeds were difficult to control so she lost a lot of blood." Erin was pale, silent tears falling.

 

Julie came back through the doors. "Ali, I can take you to Ash now." Ali jumped up, wiping tears from her cheeks.

 

"Keep us up to date Al?" She nodded back to Dom.

 

"Of course." Julie led Ali though the doors, like she was just another family member who had never been through the doors before.

 

 

 

Erin sat down next to Alex and just looked at her without saying anything.

 

"What?" Alex couldn't quite figure out what the look meant. "Why are you looking at me that way?"

 

Erin smiled,"I just never thought I would be seeing you again....We thought...It broke Kelley."

 

"I honestly thought I would never see Kelley again. Every time I tried to get in touch with her... or find her..." Alex looked down to the floor while she kept talking, "My father has been trying to marry me off but luckily...I found Kelley just in time." Erin looked at Alex, still seeing the young girl she knew all those years ago.

 

"When did you run into each other?"

 

"Kelley was at a bar one night with her friends a few months back, she was on stage playing. I thought maybe I was just trying too hard to see what I really wanted to see. But then...well, for the second time in my life she has turned my whole world upside down."

 

"Yeah she's good at doing that." Alex smiled softly back at Erin. "She's going to be okay." Erin's eyes looked sad and tired but she had to hold on to the thought that her sister would be okay.                  

 

 

 

Another hour passed before someone with a purpose walked back through the doors. A young nurse looked for Erin and walked through the much smaller crowd.

 

"Miss O'Hara...I can take you to see your sister now." Erin jumped up eagerly. She looked at Alex, whose eyes were closed in resignation knowing she would still have to wait to see Kelley.

 

"Alex, are you coming?" Alex looked up, her mouth opened in shock.

 

"What? Sorry..what?" Erin reached down, grabbed her hand and then looked at the nurse.

 

"She's my sisters fiancé. My sister will literally ban me from all future family holidays if I leave her out here." The nurse chuckled quietly.

 

"Of course..let me take you both through." She turned around to lead them away, Erin holding Alex's hand and squeezing it.

 

"Thank you." Alex whispered to Erin and briefly looked back at Mal. Mal made a 'text me' motion.

 

"Al, I know my sister has never been the same since you left. Her heart was completely broken, shattered beyond repair. I have a feeling you were the same." Alex nodded, chewing her lip like she does when she is nervous. "I think the only people that can mend your hearts are each other.. Are you going to get back together?" Alex smiled a little at the thought of the small kiss her and Kelley had shared.

 

"I'm going to do my best to make that happen." Erin smiled happily.

 

The nurse led them down a really brightly lit hallway and eventually stopped outside a door.

 

"Now, I need you know that she is on a support system. We are going to keep her sedated while we wait for the swelling in the brain to reduce so she is hooked up to a lot of monitors and a breathing system." Erin gasped and put her hand over her mouth to keep in the sobs. "Miss O'Hara, I understand this is extremely scary, but she is in the hands of some of the best Doctors in the States." Erin nodded her head quickly, still with her hand over her mouth.

 

The nurse opened the door and allowed the women to walk through alone, giving them some time to adjust to the sight in front of them.

 

Kelley was hooked up to machine on both sides of the bed. One controlled the air pumping into her lungs, the other monitored her vital signs, letting out a regular beep with each test of the blood pressure.

 

"Oh my god..how did this happen?" Alex wasn't sure how much Erin had been told when she got here. Erin walked in slowly, gently reaching out to touch Kelley's hand.

 

"There is an arsonist setting warehouses on fire, except now he is making them explode. Kelley, Ash and a few others from different fire houses were injured." Erin's eyes widened, recognizing Ashlyn's name.

 

"Is Ash okay?"

 

"She's in a pretty bad way," Alex looked up and shrugged, "She's in the same ward too. Ali was heading in seeing as they has just bought Ash out of surgery. I think both of them are going to be out of action for a while." Alex walked over towards the other side of the bed, reaching out to touch Kelley's cheek. Kelley had a big bandage wrapped around her head, a tube hanging out of her mouth and a few scratches on her face. They weren't too serious though, her helmet protected her skin.

 

Alex ran her fingers gently down the side of Kelley's jaw line and then over to her lips. It seemed like a very intimate gesture causing Erin to look away slightly. Alex leant down and kissed right on the edge of Kelley's lips. "You get some rest baby...you need to get better and come back to me."

 

Erin found the cot in the corner ready to be pulled out. Alex knew she wouldn't be able to stay all the time, but she was going to go along with the fiancé thing for as long as she could.

 

"Did you have to drive far?" Erin shrugged.

 

"Not really, only took me 2 and a bit hours to get here." She looked at her watch realizing the time. It was coming up to 4am. "Wow, I can't believe that is the time." Alex looked at her watch suddenly realizing why she was so tired."Why don't you go home and come back in the morning, she's not going anywhere and I doubt things are going to change in the next few hours."

 

Alex looked skeptical but then realized that Erin would probably want a little bit of time alone with her sister. She forgets sometimes that she has only come back into Kelley's life after being absent for so many years.

 

"Yeah sure, okay. How about I bring you some good food and coffee in the morning. I'll text you when I'm on my way back." Erin nodded.

 

"Sounds good. Let me give you my number." She reached out and took Alex's phone to put in her number.

 

Before Alex left she leant down and gave Kelley another kiss. She then went to Erin and gave her another big hug. It was hard to leave Kelley but she knew there wasn't anything she could do right now. Realizing that Ali would be close by, she walked passed a few rooms to see if any of the of the doors were open. The fourth door down, she saw Ali sitting in a chair holding onto Ashlyns hand. Alex didn't want to scare her so she tapped lightly on the door. Ali looked up and gave the smallest of smiles so as to acknowledge Alex.

 

"Hey Al, are you doing okay?"She whispered. Ashlyn was in exactly the same state as Kelley. Machines beeping, air hose hanging out of her mouth. Ali stood up shaking her head, walking over to Alex clearly needing some comfort. "Hey Al, she's going to be okay. Both of them are hanging on and are going to fight to come back to us." Ali nodded her head against Alex's shoulder. After Ali calmed back down, she went back to her seat and grabbed hold of Ashlyn's hand.

Alex walked over to the cot in the corner and rolled it over. "Ali, unfold this and get some sleep. It's been a massive night and its going to be a big few days." Alex unfolded the bed for Ali and placed it down close enough that Ali could touch Ashlyn easily if she reached out for her. "I'll be back in the morning. I'll bring you some food. I'll make sure that Mal gets some clothes for you too."

 

"Thank you Alex. How'd you manage to get back here?" Alex chuckled a little, it sounding weird off the walls of the ICU room.

 

"Erin told them I was Kelley's fiancé, so until they know otherwise, I'm good." Ali attempted a smile, slowly laying down on the cot, clearly finding exhaustion taking over her body.

 

Alex walked towards the door and closed it gently. Once she was back out in the Emergency room, she found Mal struggling to stay awake and Jessie laying on her lap. Dom had left with many of the other fire fighters to go back to their families. Alex walked over and gave Mal a gently nudge.

 

"Hey, Mal...wake up." Mal startled awake, her hand automatically going down to protect Jessie from whatever was waking her. "Hey, it's just me. Let me drive you guys home."

 

"You're leaving?" Mal was rubbing her eyes, the tiredness trying to take over.

 

"Yeah but I'm coming back in the morning with clothes for Ali and Erin and also coffee and food. Obviously once I finish up with Serv."

 

"Oh yeah, that's in the morning hey? Soon really."

 

"You don't have to come you know, you can just stay in bed and sleep." Mal was already shaking her head in disagreement.

 

"No, I'm coming. You're not going alone." Alex knew Mal wouldn't change her mind but she thought she would try anyway.

 

Mal woke Jessie up gently and they all trudged out to the car. The sky was already starting to lighten up and it wouldn't be long before the sun started to rise. Alex knew the following hours were going to be unpleasant due to a few different factors. 1... she needed to see Serv and right now she would prefer to sit on a bed full of fire ants than do that. 2... the love of her life (she knew it) was unconscious in a hospital bed and no one knew when she would wake up. 3... she was fucking tired.

 

Alex didn't think she would get any sleep, her mind wouldn't stop thinking about Kelley, but she knew she would need to try and get an hour or two if she was going to manage the situation with Serv. She really wanted to be able to see Kelley next time knowing that she had nothing holding her back.

 

Alex was completely Kelley's.


	12. Chapter 12

Alex was laying in bed wide awake at 7:30am. She'd managed to get about 2 hours sleep and she was very surprised she managed to get that at all. Realizing that she would need to let Allie know that they didn't need to meet anymore and they wouldn't be spending their day getting day drunk, Alex sent a brief message.Her phone rang instantly

 

"Hey." Alex answered with a groggy scratchy voice.

 

"Hey? That's what you're going with? What the hell happened last night?" Obviously Allie went straight home to bed and didn't hear about the accident. She wasn't a fan of the radio due to all the advertisements and was just in the habit of having her Spotify on all the time.

 

"On the way home I heard of an accident on the radio. I had a bad feeling and went to the hospital."

 

"Oh my god, is Kelley okay?" Alex was quiet a beat longer, Allie instantly knew, "Al, is Kelley. Okay?" She asked again a little quieter, maybe a little scared of the answer.

 

"It's bad Allie. Ash too." Allie gasped in the back ground. "I bought Mal and Jessie home just after 4. Mal is going to come with me before I head back up to the hospital. I need to get some food and clothes up to Ali and Erin."

 

"Who's Erin?" Allie was speaking quietly, still trying to take in the information.

 

"Erin is Kel's sister. She drove in last night after the hospital called her. She stayed up on the cot last night next to Kelley.."

 

"So how are they exactly? Ash and Kel?"

 

"They were both in surgery for hours. When I left last night they were in ICU and I imagine they will stay there for a while. Kelley has brain swelling so they need that to go down before they know anything else."

 

"Shit....I don't....What do you need from me Al?" Alex smiled softly knowing her friend was there for her.

 

"Nothing right now babe. I just need to get this thing over with Serv... then I will be back at the hospital for as long as I'm allowed."

 

"Okay, well keep me up to date yeah? I want to know how they are doing."

 

 

 

Alex and Mal had gotten to Harry's a little early. They wanted to make sure they got the advantage to this meeting. Mal sat at the bar in ear shot but not in an obvious way. Christen and Tobin both catching up with Mal on the situation from the night before and on what was about to happen.

 

Alex sat nervously in the booth. Mal put her in the booth because the tables were a little bigger and put more space between Alex and Serv.

 

Alex watched Serv walk in, no smile or happiness in his greeting.

 

"What are we doing here Alex?" Alex didn't know what she was expecting but she was hoping that he might sound a little apologetic for his actions.

 

"I thought we needed to meet face to face...rather than do this over the phone or through a text."

 

"Do what? All you need to do is come home." Serv was very matter of fact, no other options were there."

 

"It's over Serv. I'm not going back home with you."

 

"Don't be ridiculous. You're coming back home and we will get married, just like it was planned." Alex kept an even voice, well as even as she could. She needed to sho whim that she was making this decision.

 

"I'm not marrying you Serv."

 

"Stop being stupid Alex. I will forgive you for acting like a bitch, just get in the car with me and come home." Alex just looked at Serv, her brow furrowed.

 

"What makes you think that any of the way you acted is okay?" Serv rolled his eyes in frustration. "What makes you think that I want to spend the rest of my life like that? Servicing you...on my fucking knees whenever you demand it?" Alex couldn't help but start to lose her cool a little.

 

"We're getting married. I expect to be able to have sex with my wife."

 

"No Servando....We aren't getting married anymore. I'm not moving back into the house with you...you aren't part of my life anymore. I deserve better. I deserve more." Alex looked over towards the bar and saw Christen and Tobin trying to pay attention, both with very angry looks on theirs faces. Mal was using the mirror above the bar to keep an eye on the table.

 

"Oh get over yourself Alex. This is fucking ridiculous. Your father expects us to get married....now.." At that time Christen walked up to the booth.

 

"Is everything okay here?" Serv rolled his eyes but Alex smiled softly, she felt safe where she was.

 

"Actually this is a private conversation and I would prefer it if you left us alone." Serv wasn't being very nice with his tone of voice but it seemed like the real him was now on show at all times.

 

"Well, your friend here doesn't seem particularly comfortable so maybe it's best if you leave." Christen stood there with her arms crossed over her chest looking quite irritated by his attitude.

 

"Fucking bitches." He threw his head back in frustration and said those words probably a little louder than he intended.

 

"What did you call my wife?" Tobin yelled from behind the bar.

 

"I didn't ask for either of you to get involved, so how about you both say the fuck out of this. Alex, get in the car now." Serv stool to walk over to Alex but Christen stood in front of her. Alex could see over Christens shoulder and could see the fire in his eyes.

 

"I don't think she wants to go with you." Christen stood her ground.

 

"Move out of the way." Serv stood toe to toe with Christen.

 

"I think you need to leave now Sir." Mal stood from her chair.

 

"For fucks sake...all I want is for my fiancé to get in the car. Now Alex, get in the fucking car...or I will call your father and he will not be happy."

 

"He has already told me how he feels Serv. I'm done with both of you."

 

"This is fucked....get in the car Alex." Mal lightly grabbed Christen by the elbow and pulled her away so she could stand behind her.

 

"Serv is it?" Serv just stared Mal dawn, not responding or moving. Alex at this point was gripping the table and had white knuckles. "Listen Serv, I think it's best for you to leave. Alex isn't leaving with you, your relationship is over. You acted like a bastard and now you have lost an amazing woman and that is something you have to deal with." Serv was grinding his jaw, getting more agitated. "Now..I'm not going to get into a pissing contest with you, because as surprised as you might be...I will definitely win."

Serv moved even closer towards Mal.

 

"You think you can take me on?" Mal scoffed at that.

 

"I don't need to. You are going to leave...you are not going to contact Alex again..you are now excluded from her life. So, turn around, get into you car and leave." Serv smirked, like he thought he had the upper hand.

 

"What makes you think I can't take all of you on?" Mal smiled sweetly, putting her hand up towards Tobin like she was making a signal but didn't take her eyes off the man in front of her for a second.

 

"As much as I would love to kick your ass right now, I'm going to suggest one more time that you leave." Serv took a step back like he was contemplating something, hands on his hips, breathing deeply. Suddenly he lunged towards Mal, swinging his right fist towards her jaw, she was honestly expecting it and had fantastic reflexes.

 

Instantly she had his right arm twisted up behind his back pushing him on to the ground. Mal put her knee into the middle of his shoulder blades and held him down.

 

"You fucking bitch...let go of me. You will be so sorry for this, I'm going to sue you for even touching me."

 

"Oh get off your high horse you dick. You just did all of that in front of cameras.." He didn't let her finish.

 

"My father has the best lawyer and that will be your word against mine."

 

"Oh you didn't let me finish Serv.....you did that all in front of the cameras to an off duty police officer. Not cool buddy..." She felt Serv slump to the ground and stop fighting.

 

"Fuck...you made me do that..you made me fight you." Serv stopped fighting when he saw some feet in front of his face.

 

"Just shut up...you have come in to my establishment, insulted my wife and tried to fight a cop. I recorded all of it...every single word...so all your doing is actually digging yourself a hole." Serv's head suddenly banged on the ground like he had finally given in...finally understood just how much trouble he was in.

 

Mal looked behind her slightly to see if Alex was okay and saw that Christen had her wrapped tight in a hug. "Here Mal." Tobin's voice got her attention back. Tobin was holding out a pair of handcuffs. Mal looked up and quirked her eyebrow in question. Tobin shrugged. "I've got them for when things get out of hand... situations such as this...." Mal took them and handcuffed Servs wrists and then she walked over and whispered in Alex's ear that everything would be okay.. She didn't want Serv to know they new each other personally.

 

Mal sat back on her stool, "So Tobs, reckon you can start on those coffees to take away. There is no way I'm doing this paperwork right now. I have not had enough sleep." Tobin laughed and went back to the coffee machine while Christen sat with Alex at the bar.

 

Within 5 minutes a few police officers walked in and laughed at the situation.

 

"Mal..it's your day off, what have you been up to?"

 

"Hey Pete, yeah this guy decided to be a dick and took a swing at me when I asked him to leave. I will write up my statement while I'm at the hospital, but Tobs has audio and the CCTV." One of the guys clapped in celebration.

 

"Maan, I love it when people fuck up but do all the work for us."Pete pulled Serv up from the ground and led him outside to the cruiser. Tobin handed over the tray of coffees and a bag full of warm food for Mal to take.

 

"You 2 should get going. Give Ali our love and keep us up to date with Kel and Ash yeah?"

Christen walked back around and put her arms around Tobins waist and buried her nose in Tobins neck. Tobin wrapped her arms around her wife's waist and pulled her in tight, kissing her on the temple. Tobin never liked the thought of Christen being here without her and would never let her be here by herself. She knew of course that Christen could look after herself but Tobin would ever forgive herself if anything ever happened to her. Kelley and Ash being hurt... on top of the situation this morning...it was too much.

 

The car ride to the hospital was quiet... Mal was giving Alex that, and that, was what she needed right now. Alex felt like she was finally free of what had been keeping her caged for so long but still something felt really wrong. Sitting in the car with the outside world going past in a blur, Alex kept trying to put her finger on what exactly was feeling so wrong.

 

  1. She was no longer controlled by her father
  2. She was no longer engaged or tied down in any way to a complete douche.
  3. She was finally free to live her life as her true self.
  4. She was finally free to be with Kelley again.



 

There it was. As soon as she went through those thoughts in her head she felt that tightness in her chest. She was finally free to be with Kelley and she actually felt desperate to be with her. It had been too long...too long without her. Alex started to feel like she couldn't breathe. Her chest was being squeezed, her vision blurry.

 

Mal looked over and saw that Alex was spiraling deeper and deeper into thought. Just as she was about to say something, she saw Alex begin to gulp for air. Mal didn't bother with indicating, she sped across the other 2 lanes and pulled the car safely off the road. She pulled herself out of her seat and ran to the other side of the car.

 

"Alex breath..listen to my voice." Alex knew Mal was there but couldn't focus on her.

 

"Alex, I need you to listen okay? Now, we are going to slow down your breathing, follow me." Alex did her best to focus and could feel her hand being placed on Mal's chest. Alex pushed away all her other thoughts and began to focus on breathing in and out. "That's good, much better. Now I want you to look around what are some of the things you see? Can you see the building behind me?" Alex nodded and focused behind Mal's shoulder. "Good, what color is it?"

 

"Blue."

 

"Good..can you see an animal on the side of the building?" Alex kept staring, her focus so much better now and then she saw the bird.

 

"Yeah it's an eagle....driving... a car."

 

"Great, now match my breathing, feel my chest move." Alex closed her eyes for a moment and followed Mal's chest. She finally felt like she was completely in control of her breathing and slumped back against the car seat. "So... do you want to tell me what you were thinking about that started your panic attack?"

 

There was no point deflecting so Alex just looked at Mal and answered.

 

"I love Kelley....I've always been in love with Kelley." Mal smiled gently, happy that Alex was okay with admitting that. "But right now Kelley is laying in a hospital bed, unconscious and I may never get the chance to tell her. I had this desperate pull to be with her, my chest, it felt so tight." Mal nodded like she understood what Alex was saying. "I need to be with her Mal, I lost her once and now I finally have the chance to be with her.. I just need her. Do you understand?"

"Yeah man.." Mal got up from where she was kneeling and leant over to hug Alex the best she could while she was still in the car. "I really do understand. The need I feel to be with with Jessie..it's crazy and I haven't known her that long...but when I'm not with her, it drives me insane. I can only imagine what it's like for you with Kelley after all this time."

 

Alex nodded gently and started biting her lip. Mal stood up properly and checked Alex over.

 

"How about I get you to the hospital so we can give these ladies their coffee that I'm sure are desperate for, then I will come back to the hospital with Jessie so we can hang for a while." Alex nodded, smiling a bit more. "Let's get you to your girl huh?" That put an even bigger smile on her face.

 

 

Mallory was actually let into the ICU to see Ash and Kelley. The area had calmed down now and both of them had been stable for a few hours so the the doctors thought it would be reasonablefor them to have an extra visitor and for the family to get their coffee and have support.

Mal took the coffee and clothes to Ali while Alex practically ran through the room to where Erin was still sitting beside Kelley.

 

"How is she?" Erin looked up with very tired eyes.

 

"Oh hey...yeah she is still the same. The doctors are happy there haven't been any other bleeds yet so that is looking good. I'm surprised you weren't here as soon as the visiting hours started."

 

Alex looked to the ground feeling bad, she wanted desperately to be here. "Yeah, I had something that needed to be done this morning that couldn't wait. Kelley would be very happy that it actually happened."

 

Erin took a sip from her coffee, raising her eyebrows hoping for more of an explanation. Before Alex got into her story, she sat beside Kelley and grabbed her hand. She needed to feel that connection and let Kelley know she was with her...and only her.

 

"I recently left my fiancé." Erin coughed when she began to choke on her coffee. "We were meant to marry in a few months..Kelley saw that as a challenge." Erin actually laughed at that bit, knowing exactly what her sister was like. "I had planned to talk to him this morning so he knew 100% that it was over, Mal came with me to make sure I was okay....it didn't end well....Kelley would have freaked out if I went alone. Good thing too."

 

"What happened Alex?" Erin looked very concerned, she knew Alex's dad was always full on, Kelley telling her some of the stories.

 

"Nothing really..he tried to get me to go home with him, I said no and he he tried to get physical and got himself arrested." Alex automatically began to rub one of her wrists that had the faintest bruise remaining there. She then picked up Kelley's hand and kissed her palm. "She has never given up on us you know." Erin nodded, listening to what Alex needed to say. "As soon as Kelley saw me that night she has shown me that she still loves me..that she never stopped...I still love her too of course but, it was just so hard. I always thought I would lose my family if I was with her...but... I never really had them. Kelley was always my family." Erin had a tear falling down her cheek, Alex was exactly the same. "I need her Erin... I want her, I need her to be okay."

 

"Oh Honey, Kelley is a fighter. I have faith that she will come back to us. It might not seem like it, but I reckon Kelley is laying there listening to everything we say." Alex nodded, she hoped Kelley could hear them, she had so much she wanted to say to her.

 

"I might just go and have a shower, freshen up a little." Erin grabbed her things and the headed to the showers that the nurses told her she could freshen up in.

 

Alex ran her finger down Kelley's cheek and then kissed her lips gently. Her need to hold Kelley because overwhelming and she found her self instinctively climbing up in to the space beside her. Kelley's pulse kept steady and Alex felt warmth wrap around her even though Kelley hadn't moved. This felt exactly like where she was supposed to be.

 

Erin walked back into the room to find both Kelley and Alex asleep.

 

For the next few hours Alex stayed in exactly the same position. The nurses didn't make her move, and it seemed she instinctively didn't move so she wouldn't hurt Kelley.

 

Mal came down to check on Kelley and updated Erin on how Ash was going. She had also stabilized, and though unconscious, they were comfortable enough to move her out of ICU.

 

At 1pm, Alex woke up to what felt like tingles on her back. She swore she could feel Kelley rubbing small circles on her lower back. She leant up on her elbow to look at Kelley more carefully, still seeing her face in exactly the same relaxed sleepy state as she had been the night before. Alex figured she must have been going crazy, just wanting it so much.

 

Then she felt it again, the lightest of touches.

 

"Erin, please don't think I'm crazy, but can you get up and come around to this side of the bed and look at Kelley's hand."

 

Erin stood up curiously and walked around to the other side of the bed. She gasped in surprise.

 

"What is it?"

 

"Her thumb has somehow made it under your shirt, her hand is up against your back."

 

"I knew I wasn't going crazy." Erin chuckled.

 

"Even unconscious my sister can't keep her hands off you." Alex grinned shyly, but she felt ecstatic. Having Kelley's hands on her always felt like electricity was running through her body.

 

They were interrupted by the nurse coming in. "Okay ladies, we are going to take Kelley for another CT scan and then we will take her to her new room. Did you want to meet us there?"

 

 

Kelley knew she must be dreaming, for one thing, how did she mange to escape the blast.Another thing, she was dreaming of her and Alex, but it was like she was watching the scene happen in front of her.

 

 

They were doing simple things like going to the movies together, sitting there laughing casually at something the other had said. Alex was playing with Kelleys fingers, then gently placing one finger under Kelley's chin and bringing her in for a quick kiss.

 

Next they were swimming in a water hole together, Kelley standing there with her arms wrapped around Alex who had her legs wrapped around Kelley's waist. Alex was softly kissing Kelley's neck while Kelley was telling some story and then Alex threw her head back laughing.

 

Then they were running through a field, it had really high grass and beautiful flowers. Kelley was chasing Alex who couldn't stop laughing.

 

Kelley felt an immense warmth come over her, an unexplainable calmness. The vision in front of her disappeared into mist and she felt tired. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed with Alex, touch her skin.

 

 

 

 

"Do you really think she can hear us?" Erin was looking at Alex, her tired eyes showing her hope.

 

"I'm not sure...what I do know is that it's our Kelley in there. Only Kelley would manage to try and feel me up while she's still unconscious. But seriously Erin..yeah, I think she can. Now it's just a matter of getting her to come back to us."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really really sorry. I just get lost in all the other good stories.

3 days..3 days Alex had been waiting for Kelley to open her eyes....They were still closed and she was still asleep.

 

There were no longer the breathing tubes, but the constant beeping was still there. Alex still noticed it but wasn't as anxious about it for some reason. The beeping was a good thing and she liked to see the little fluctuations every now and then. It wasn't too much but they were definitely there.

 

Only that morning after Alex walked in after getting Erin a fresh coffee did she get to see the difference. Alex had walked up to Kelley and gently kissed her on the cheek as usual. "Good Morning my love." She whispered in her ear and then lowered her lips a little and skimmed her nose just under Kelley's jaw bone and placed a gentle kiss on her neck. It was subtle but the heart rate monitor beeped a little faster. Alex's eyes flicked over to the screen and smiled. "Calm down Kel...no need to cause the nurses to come running in for me to have to explain why that happened." A moment later, the heart rate monitor began to calm down and Alex kissed Kelley on the forehead in recognition.

 

Mum and Dad O'Hara had arrived the night before, finally being able to match up flights and make the distance. They were even more shocked to see Alex than Erin was, though Alex left the fiancé title explanation to Erin. The O'Hara's were even more shocked to hear that Alex had also decided to take indefinite leave from work, deciding that beside Kelley was where she needed to be.

 

The decision wasn't hard for Alex at all, and although she cared greatly for the children in her class, the woman in the bed had suddenly become the priority in her life. She had been, once upon a time, but this time Alex wouldn't let anyone take this opportunity away from her.

 

Ali had dropped by a few times to check on Kelley and Alex had done the same with Ashlyn.Although struggling to stay awake, Ashlyn had opened her eyes. Ali couldn't stop the tears when she heard Ashlyn call her name.

 

Ash had a very long recovery in front of her. It would definitely slow down her progression to lieutenant, but none of that meant anything because she was alive. Ali was also in a really difficult time in her career, but Ali told Ashlyn she would walk away from it all if she needed to. So stepping away for a little bit wasn't even a question for her.

 

Mal and the rest of the local police force were very busy. They had received an anonymous tip leading them to a vacant lot, except for an old metal shed. The shed was full of wire and stripped sheath. There was no question that it was being used to make the explosives. The police presence was out in full force but they were still no closer to actually finding the person responsible.

 

The fire stations themselves were not entering any large fires. There had been a few big fires but the orders had been to fight from the outside, no man or woman was to go inside unless there were very clear indictions that there was someone inside. Even then, it was a huge decision. No one wanted to risk another life unnecessarily.

 

 

It was another two days later, Alex was singing to herself, just coming from the shower in Kelley's room. While putting away her toiletries, "You smell beautiful." Alex's neck snapped around and was met with Kelley's eyes. They were groggy but completely locked on Alex.

 

Alex ran immediately to Kelley's side and gently grabbed her cheeks. She ran her thumb over the rise of the bone and leant in to give Kelley a gentle kiss before grabbing the call button and calling the nurses. "You came back to me?"

 

Kelley smiled gently back, still not looking away. "They would have had one hell of a fight on their hands to try and drag me away from you." Alex leaned in again, this time kissing Kelley for a bit longer.

 

"So, this is a thing now...you kissing me?" Kelley's hand lazily flipped in the air back and forth between herself and Alex.

 

Alex nodded gently, "If that's okay with you?" She had a shy smile on her lips, unknowingly holding her breath until she got a smile back from Kelley.

 

"It's the way it's meant to be Alex. You and me." 2 nurses entered the room stole away their moment. While the nurses checked over Kelley, checking her response times and vitals, Alex called Erin to let her know that Kelley was awake. Erin and her parents were just down in the car park, coming back from the cafe down the road. Alex had to pull the phone away from her ear due to the squeal she got back through the phone line.

 

 

 

"Kelley, oh my baby, you had us so worried." Kelley's mom kept kissing her face all over, her sister Erin was very quiet in the corner just watching her family interact. Alex noticed this but didn't want to take her out of her moment, her sister had just woken up so she figured she would talk to her about it later. Kelley's father kissed her forehead gently, almost like he was scared he would break her.

 

"It's so good to have you back Sweetie. I'm sure you're fiancé is pretty happy to have you back too." Her father gave her a smirk, the gleam in his eye unable to hide the cheekiness.

 

Kelley's eyes shot back to Alex, then to the other faces in the room. "Did I miss something while I was unconscious?" Kelley's mother slapped him on the arm, Alex walking over to hold Kelleys hand and explain the situation.

 

"Erin told them I was your fiancé so I could come back to your room while you were in ICU." Kelley looked surprised but happy while trying to see around her parents and find her sister in the room.

 

Erin finally caught her eye, chewing her bottom lip. "Hey little sister. You really had us worried." Erin walked over slowly towards Kelley's bed. "You've always liked to do things at your own pace though huh?" Erin pulled Kelley into a gentle hug, keeping in mind just how sore she probably was. "I found this one in the waiting room when I got here." Erin moved her head towards Alex, showing who she was talking about. "You hadn't told me that you had gotten back in touch again," Erin poked Kelley's arm, "So imagine my surprise when there she was, sitting on a chair beside your house mate."

 

"Yeah I guess I was a little scared that I wouldn't be able to keep her in my life...and I was a little shocked that we ran into each other at all. It was a complete fluke that it happened at all." Kelley was looking at Alex when she was saying this.

 

"I don't know Kel, the more I think about it, the more I think it was always supposed to happen. Obviously the circumstances weren't ideal at the time, but...we were always supposed to cross paths again." Alex leant down and kissed her forehead softly, not wanting to get into anything further while everyone was around and not having a chance to have a proper talk with Kelley first.

 

 

"Was anyone else hurt that night?" Kelley was looking in between Erin and Alex figuring they would be the ones to know.

 

"Whats the last thing you remember?" Alex entwined her fingers with Kelley's.

 

"Ash was telling me to get away. She sounded...I don't know if scared is the right word but..almost resigned..like she had already accepted that she wasn't going to get out. Doesn't make sense though...she would take on an entire Army if she had to, if it meant she would find her way back to Ali." Alex was nodding in agreement.

 

"Ash is okay. Let me just say that first." Kelley closed her eyes, laying her head on the pillow. Waiting for the bad news. "But she is in a pretty bad way. Woke up before you, but certainly messed up though. It's going to be a tough road for her and Ali."

 

"Do you think they will let me go and see her?"

 

"Sure Kel, I don't see why not once they are happy with you being able to move a bit more."

 

"And Jessie is okay?"

 

"Yeah she is. There were a few very serious injuries from the explosion but that was it from your house. I'd have to get someone from your house to run you though the rest." Kelley nodded again. She took a deep breath and felt her eyes begin to get heavy.

 

"We will head out and come back in a little bit then, let her have some sleep." Her parents gave her a kiss on the forehead, Kelley not moving, likely to have already fallen asleep. Erin was still in her spot, not moving an inch. Alex leant over and gave Kelly a kiss on the cheek before walking over to Erin. She gave her elbow a little pinch to get her attention properly.

 

"Hey, what's going on with you?" Erin covered her face with her hands, trying to cover the noise of the sobs that had escaped her mouth. Alex pulled her in for a big hug, letting Erin cry on her shoulder. Alex didn't want to make her talk before she was ready, so she just let her cry.

 

"For so long Kelley has kept everyone at arms length. Like, she gave us updates with work and just really general stuff but for so long, she kept up this wall. She was so broken Alex. It's like she just gave up on being happy at all, even her family couldn't break through." Erin was trying to gather her thoughts again, Alex was rubbing her back trying to keep her calm so she could think. "I guess I'm scared....scared to lose her through work, scared to lose her if you leave, scared she will completely block us out and never let us back in again."

 

"Hey, Erin look at me." Alex stepped back far enough that she could get Erin to look at her properly. "I have just gotten Kelley back into my life after losing her. It killed me everyday to be apart from her. I don't intend on going anywhere. Believe me." Alex was crying now too. "I love her.. I always have. I want to be in her life now as I should have been all along okay?" Erin nodded slowly at Alex. "When Kel wakes up and I have a chance to really talk to her, I'm going to tell her exactly that, I promise."

 

Erin pulled Alex in and hugged her again. "I think I'm going to transfer back here. I want to be in Kelley's life again. I guess the way I hope things are going to go with you two, that means I'm back in your life too." Alex was nodding, a big smile on her face.

 

"That's exactly what it means. I'm going to make things right..If she wants me that is." Erin rolled her eyes.

 

"Okay, I'm not even going to comment on that. I might go make a call to work and then head to the hotel for a it. I know when she wakes up she will want to spend some time with you, hopefully she will sleep for a bit though. Obviously her body needs it." Alex nodded.

 

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll stay here so when she wakes up she isn't alone."

 

 

 

Alex had been sitting on the chair in the room for an hour, playing on her phone and messaging Mal who was planning on stopping by after her shift. One of the other perks of having a badge meant Mal could walk in when she wanted as long as Kelley was awake. She had messaged Ali as well to keep her up to date and so Ashlyn could stop worrying over her friend and focus on herself.

 

Another hour later, she woke up with a kink in her neck from sleeping in a bad position. She hadn't intended on falling asleep but the relief of having Kelley with them again must of caught up with her. She got up and stretched out her neck and walked over to the bed to give Kelley a kiss on the cheek. Kelley stirred and slowly opened her groggy eyes.

 

"You're really here?" Kelley reached out with her good arm to touch Alex like she thought she was an apparition.

 

"Yeah baby, I'm still here." Alex slid onto the bed to lay down with Kelley, it was a lot easier now there were a less cables and tubes.

 

"I like that." Kelley whispered, causing Alex to angle her head up so she could look at her.

 

"Like what?"

 

"When you call me baby. I haven't heard that in a really long time." Kelley was looking at Alex, a little in disbelief but still with a little gleam of happiness in her eyes.

 

"Well, if it's okay with you, I want to be able to call you that for a really long time?" Kelley couldn't keep the smile for her lips.

 

"Of course it's okay with me. Have to ask though....what's happening with Serv?" With Kelley being out of it for a few days, she needed to hear Alex say things were completely over. She figured after everything that happened it would be, but still, she needed to hear it.

 

"Things are officially over Kel. Mal came with me to see him and I told him we were through and there was never any chance of that changing."

 

"I can't imagine he took that well?" Kelley looked at Alex with such love, relieved to know Alex's Ex was out of the picture for good.

 

"You could say that. He tried to ignore what I said and drag me back to his car like a cave man. But he got himself arrested so I have no idea where he is now." Kelley looked shocked at that.

 

"What, did he hurt you?" Alex gently touched Kelley's cheek, rubbing her thumb over her lips.

 

"No baby, he didn't, he tried to take on Mal not realizing she was polite officer. Tobin and Christen recored everything so he has no way to deny it."

 

"Shit, what a dick. I'm so glad you found out what he was like before you got married." Alex nodded biting her bottom lip. She had thought about that many times too. "Have you heard from your father again?" Alex shook her head. After there last phone call she didn't think her father would be around, but he could always sneak out of the woodworks and that scared her plenty.

 

"I haven't heard from him but I don't think he is just going to go away quietly.."

 

"I won't let him hurt you Alex."

 

Alex leant in and kissed Kelley on the lips. She had wanted to do that for years and now she realized she could. Kelley was also feeling like she was in a dream. She had literally dreamt of kissing Alex for years. Alex pulled away after a while, fearing she was putting too much weight on Kelley, Kelley just wrapped her arm around Alex's waist tighter and pulled her back so they were resting their foreheads together.

 

"Marry me?"

 

Both of them sat there frozen, Kelley realized she actually said it out loud.

 

"What?" Alex spoke so quietly Kelley could hardly hear her.

 

"I'm serious Alex, Marry me. We should have always been together and now we are again. Having you back in my life again...It feels right. I don't want to let you go. Not ever. Marry me?"

 

A tear ran down Alex's cheek and a small smile crossed her lips. "Yes."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the continued kudos and feedback. I appreciate the gentle nudges to keep posting as well. This is my dirty little secret so I can only write when the opportunity comes about. 
> 
> I will do better to try and wrangle some more time.
> 
> BTW..Sorry for the chapter below. :/

Mal's legs were burning. It felt like she had been running forever. She could hear the blood rushing through her veins and the air pumping out of her lungs as she kept pushing one leg in front of the other. She braced herself to land properly when she had to jump over a wire fence that any other time she would laugh at, and cut a hole through.

 

She'd had the smallest amount of time to speak into her radio before she started racing down the road at the fastest speed that her legs could take her. She's left her new partner for dust as she ran after the guy running in front of her. She had to admit, she was pretty impressed with herself for keeping up as long as she had, considering the speed this guy was able to take off at, every time he ran into a barrier that made him bounce in a different direction.

 

Mal's partner had been standing inside getting her Subway lunch while Mal stood on the curb texting Jessie. Someone had caught her attention across the road in the phone booth outside of the school. There was a guy standing on his toes with his hands in the air, looking like he was fixing something to the inside walls right at the bend of the roof.

 

Mal continued to watch him as he finished what he was doing and then after placing a few things in his pockets, looked up across the road and locked eyes with Mal. Mal continued to stare him down, watching as he slowly angled himself to the doorway and took of in a first class sprint down the road.

 

Mal took off in the same direction, grabbing the attention of her partner as she sped off by banging on the glass window scaring the shit out of all the people distracted by their phones.

 

"Mewis, isolate the phone booth across the road, suspicious activity...White male, red sweater, brown hair...." Is pretty much all she got out as Mal put the radio back in the holder on her shirt.

 

It didn't take long for him to begin to lead her down alleyways. Mal knew in the back of her mind that she should be very careful and not run into any buildings like warehouses but she had this odd feeling about him that she just could't shake.

 

After not losing her in the alleys, the runner hit a main street and just booked it. He ran in and out through people, occasionally pulling someone down in an attempt to slow the police officer behind him.

 

Mal could hear the sirens getting closer so obviously the guy in front could too. He cut left down another alley that ran beside some houses, a few very aggressive dogs barking at the rusty metal fences.

 

He made another quick step right when he was about 40 yards ahead. When Mal got to that spot and made the cut in, she found her undoing. It was basically a V split and each path wasn't that long so he could have gone down either. Making a quick decision, she did what Beyonce said and went to the left.Mal came barreling out the end, looking around for which way she should go. Currently around her were houses and barking dogs, the fences this time were of rickety timber with peeling brown paint, about 5 feet high. There was a loud bang and she felt a burn on her left shoulder, she jumped behind the closest thing that could cover her and grabbed her shoulder to try and dim the pain.

 

There was another loud bang and the metal bin in front of her made a ting noise with the bullet ricocheting off it.Luckily her radio wasn't damaged from the gun shot, it only grazed her shoulder. Her hand was sticky though from the blood that had come from her shoulder already.

 

"This is 0217, I'm under fire, assistance required."

 

"Where are you Pugh?"

 

"Let's see. In an alley, behind a bin.... in the burbs."

 

"Pugh?" The voice on the other end sounded frustrated.

 

"Sarge I don't know. I just ran, Mewis had to isolate the area and I chased the perp.I think I came off.....wait." Mal listened and could hear footsteps running away and a bin being knocked over. "He's run away. I'm going to see if I can find any casings and take photos before I go back out and find Mewis. I'll be back at the station to complete the paperwork after I get seen to."

 

"Are you hurt bad Pugh?" Mal was still holding her shoulder, she could feel a bit of a divot through her skin. She winced when she moved her fingers.

 

"It's fine Sarge, maybe a few stitches, I got lucky." And Mal absolutely knew she did get lucky, it could haves easily gone the other way. This could have easily been a situation where there was a different phone call being made to her family.

 

 

Once she had traced her way back and found her partner, she found the phone booth had been taped off. In fact the shops directly opposite had been evacuated to a safe area also. She found her partner assigned to monitoring the crowd, standing close by the girl from the subway shop.

 

"Hows the shoulder Mal?" Mal looked at her partner and then over Mewis' shoulder to see the subway girl listening in on their conversation.

 

Mal forgot and tried to shrug. "Oh shit...yeah, just a little scratch. Did you get the job done?" Mewis frowned back at Mal.

 

"Of course you dick, I called it in and it's taped off. Everyone is standing in the street. Bomb disposal team disposing of bomb. See mom, all my homework is done." Mal just looked back at Mewis being a smart ass. Mal glanced quickly behind again and then back at her.

 

"No Kristie...did you get her number?" Mewis' face just fell, it looked like she wanted to be sick. Mal just stood there, holding her shoulder, looking over Mewis' shoulder back to the subway girl every now and then.

 

"No she didn't." Mewis' eyebrows shot up in shock and Mal couldn't keep the smirk off her face.

 

"I'm just going to go and get my shoulder looked at while you do that then huh." Mal winked at the girl behind Mewis and then spun on her heel to head over to the paramedics.

 

 

 

 

"Do you think we're crazy?" Alex was standing beside Kelley's bed, as close as she possibly could without mounting the frame. She held Kelley's hand while their foreheads were resting against one another's. Kelley closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

 

"I don't think any of this is crazy Alex. I fell in love with you when I was like 13, and I never stopped. I completely fell apart when you left. It felt like a massive part of me was missing and no matter what I did, I couldn't make it feel whole again. Now, when you came back in to my life, you were going to marry someone else. We are meant to be and not a day will go by where I let my other half go again." Kelley reached up and tucked a few stray strands behind Alex's ear. "Do you love me Alex?"

 

Alex nodded without needing to think. "Yes."

 

"Did you ever stop being in love me?"

 

Another definite answer, "No."

 

"Do you want to be with any one else? Have the opportunity to be with anybody else?"

 

"No, I can't imagine being with anybody else, I haven't wanted to be with anybody else. My choices were taken away from me otherwise it would have been only you."

 

"My heart was broken Alex, nothing else felt right and I never thought I would feel complete again......but with you....the way you look at me, like really look at me. You know me, you see me. I feel like I could take on the world when you are standing beside me. I..."

 

The rest of Kelley's words are stopped by Alex's lips on hers. Alex wrapped her fingers around the back of Kelley's neck and held her close as she could.It wasn't obscene but anyone seeing them would have seen the passion between them. The kiss only broke when they both needed air. Kelley whispered again.

 

"I'm going to do this right, you're going to be wooed and swept off your feet.. but I just needed you to know my intentions. I'm not letting you go and I will not allow anyone else to stand in the way of us being together ever again. Not if you want to be with me too Alex. Do you understand?" Alex nodded, their foreheads never parting. "You are my family Alex, I will always protect you." Alex couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She didn't want to anyway. She slowly wrapped her left arm around Kelley's shoulder and hugged her tight, her right hand sitting softly on Kelley's hip bone, rubbing her fingertips over the hospital material.

 

"I've never stopped loving you Kelley. I would marry you today if given the opportunity." She could feel Kelley a chuckle rumble from Kelley's chest.

 

"I'll keep that in mind."

 

There was a light tap on the door, a nurse making herself known. She needed to check on Kelley's vitals and change over her IV bags.

 

"How is the pain?" Kelley's eyebrows crinkled thinking about it just then. She thought about it and realized it was definitely there when she moved around but didn't remember it being there when she had moved to wrap her arms around Alex.

 

"Huh, you know...it's manageable."

 

"Good, we don't want to increase anything but it's definitely way to early to take anything away. Over the next few days we'll decrease the dosage but I think for now, we'll keep it just about where it's at."

 

Just as the nurse was wrapping up changing the IV bags a knock came from the door and Mal popped her head inside.

 

"Hey Boss, hows things?"

 

"Oh Man, I just can't wait to get out of here." Kelley rolled her eyes and flopped back against the bed frame.

 

"Oh I wasn't talking to you Kel. That woman is the Boss right there." Alex laughed and Kelley just stumbled over her words, crossing her arms and pouting. "Deal with it Bro." Mal walked over and patted Kelley's leg.

 

"What the fuck happened to your arm?" Alex walked over and grabbed Mal's hand, holding her arm gently on an angle so they could see the stitches.

 

"Oh nothing, just a minor scuffle."

 

"Yeah I call BS on that one, that's a gunshot graze. What happened?" Kelley stared her friend down waiting for an answer. "Don't make me call Jessie."

 

"Now you're just playing dirty.....I had a runner today. He was setting up explosives in a phone booth outside a school. He ran and I kept up with him but then he took a few shots and just got my arm. Nothing too bad."

 

 

"But it could have been." Kelley was not going to hold back on her friend when she could have gotten killed.

 

"Dude, don't start on me considering you are sitting in a hospital bed."

 

"It's not the same." Mal tried to cross her arms in frustration but winced from the pain in her arm and just shuffled to lean against the wall.

 

"Kelley, this is my job, just like your job is to run into burning buildings. I get it...it's been a shitty week. A shitty month even. I'm constantly worried about you, Jessie and Ash but these are our jobs..that we love...please don't start acting like we are all going to quit and live our lives working in libraries to be safer." Mal spoke to Kelley softly but with all the conviction she could muster.

 

Kelley sat there frowning, trying to think about what she wanted to say without upsetting her friend.

 

"I know that Mal...I just.." Kelley grabbed her head as a sharp pain rattled through her forehead. Alex rushed over to her side, stroking her head softly.

 

"Hey Mal, could you grab the light switch for me?" Mal immediately flicked the light off, concern all over her face. "Baby tell me what's wrong."

 

Kelley started shaking her her side to side, holding her head like she was trying to squeeze the pain out. She couldn't say anything but both the women could hear when she started crying. She started mumbling something which turned into a loud scream.

 

"Mal, get some help." Alex grabbed Kelley's hands and tried to pull them down so she could see Kelley's face. A few doctors came rushing in the room, one of them grabbing his pen light and flashing it at Kelley's eyes.

 

"Vince, call through to surgery. We need to operate right now." One Doctor run out the door and the remaining Doctor began to move the bags of the IV fluids. Two nurses rushed into the room, they unlocked the wheels and started to move towards the door.

 

Alex was standing there, feeling like her world was spinning around and she could feel the tears slipping down her cheeks. "What's happening?" Mal was already a mess, sliding down the wall crying.

 

"She might have a bleed. Where's her family?"

 

"They went out for a bit. I'm her fiancé. Tell me what I need to do." He turned around before walking out the door.

 

"Miss...you need to call them."

 

Alex watched as Kelley's bed got further away and disappeared around the corner before she feel to her knees.


End file.
